Is the Race for a COVID-19 Vaccine Moving Too Fast? – Vogue

Im a vaccine lover. I got the shingles vaccine as soon as a colleague had a gruesome experience with an itchy, painful rash. But the prospect of a vaccine for COVID-19 has been scaring me. On the positive side, scientists are dropping everything and rushing to create a vaccine; whoever succeeds will be the worlds savior. On the other hand, the word rushing is a little unsettling.

How do you know its safe? How do you know you should get it? Globally, 31 vaccines are in human trials, and many more candidates are being studied. Russia has already approved a vaccine but it skipped the phase where it is subjected to large-scale testing, raising skepticism in the global medical community.

A surprising number of Americans have expressed concerns about this process to polltakers, with as much as half the population saying they might not take a vaccine, either because theyre against vaccines in general or because they dont trust Trumps government and worry he will pressure the FDA to approve vaccines quickly for political reasons.

So, whats worse: risking the vaccine, or risking the illness and its potentially debilitating long-term repercussions (not to mention death)?

For guidance, I turned to James R. Baker Jr., a professor at the University of Michigan who researches immunology. He holds 50 patents, has testified before Congress many times, founded four companies, and served as global head of vaccines for the big drug company Merck. He also writes the very informative blog, Pandemic Pondering.

Here is a condensed, edited version of a conversation that surprised me in its bluntness.

Q: Will there be multiple vaccines, and will we get to choose which ones seem best for us?

A: Even if one is approved, work will continue on others. The early vaccine candidates are being developed predominantly in younger, healthier people with an age cutoff of 55.

Q: What do you mean? Theres an age cutoff?

A: They are not testing them in older people. And that is a huge problem. Basically the people that really need this vaccine are over 50.

Q: Why are so many companies not testing older people?

A: The real reason they want to test younger people is they know they will respond better and they are more likely to get an immune response that will lead to approval.

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Is the Race for a COVID-19 Vaccine Moving Too Fast? - Vogue