Tag: covid vaccine

Vial and syringe.

What to Know About the COVID-19 Vaccine Dosing Debate

Dorit Reiss 1 Comment

By Dorit Rubinstein Reiss

Faced with limited COVID-19 vaccine doses and the ever-mounting toll and strain of the pandemic, a new debate has emerged as to the best strategy for allocating the vaccines.

Both COVID-19 vaccines authorized for emergency use in the U.S., which are produced by Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna, have been studied under two-dose clinical trials. The two-dose regime is thought to accord a more robust immune response against COVID-19.

In the U.K., however, due to concerns about the shortage of COVID-19 vaccines, the government has deviated from established protocols. First, it decided to delay (but not omit) the administration of the second dose of the available vaccines, in order to increase the number of people getting at least one dose; second, it decided to allow mixing and matching of doses across vaccine types.

The United States is considering following the U.K. and moving to give more first doses, at the cost of delaying completion of the series.

Experts are sharply divided on whether that is a good or bad idea.

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Vial and syringe.

Congress Should Enact No-Fault Compensation for COVID-19 Vaccine Injuries

Dorit Reiss 1 Comment

By Dorit Rubinstein Reiss

If COVID-19 vaccines lead to any serious harms, society should compensate those victims generously and quickly.

Currently, under the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness (PREP) Act, COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers and providers are immune from liability.

Anyone seeking compensation for a severe side effect from a COVID-19 vaccine needs to go through a government program that is extremely narrow and hard to win; the Countermeasures Injury Compensation Program (CICP). The program requires “compelling, reliable, valid, medical and scientific evidence” to be compensated — a very high bar. It has compensated only a very small percentage of claims submitted over the years.

But we have an alternative. The Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP) provides compensation under a much more generous standard. It has been used for years for childhood vaccines, and has served us well. While not perfect, it offers a decent path forward.

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Close up of a Doctor making a vaccination in the shoulder of patient.

Authorize Emergency Vaccines for COVID-19, but Do It Well

Holly Fernandez Lynch Leave a comment

By Holly Fernandez Lynch, Alison Bateman-House, and Arthur Caplan

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is expected to grant emergency use authorization (EUA) for one or more COVID-19 vaccines before the end of the year — perhaps even before the end of the day, given today’s advisory committee meeting.

The agency’s decision on these EUAs will balance the need for additional data on safety and efficacy against the potential to protect at-risk groups as quickly as possible. EUAs tip the balance in favor of speed, which can be reasonable for these populations given the circumstances, especially in light of the strong trial data reported for three COVID-19 vaccines since mid-November. But the tradeoff is very real: vaccine EUAs will substantially lower the likelihood of ongoing trials completing and new trials successfully recruiting volunteers. There are a few ways to minimize these consequences.

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Syringe and money.

Why the Government Shouldn’t Pay People to Get Vaccinated Against COVID-19

The Petrie-Flom Center Staff 3 Comments

By Ana Santos Rutschman

As several pharmaceutical companies approach the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) seeking authorization to bring COVID-19 vaccines to market, concerns about vaccine mistrust cloud the prospects of imminent vaccination efforts across the globe. These concerns have prompted some commentators to suggest that governments may nudge vaccine uptake by paying people to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

This post argues that, even if potentially viable, this idea is undesirable against the backdrop of a pandemic marked by the intertwined phenomena of health misinformation and mistrust in public health authorities. Even beyond the context of COVID-19, paying for vaccination is dubious public health policy likely to backfire in terms of (re)building public trust in vaccines.

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Restaurant closed sign - "we cannot wait to see you again. stay safe."

Under an EUA, Can Businesses Require Employees and Customers to Get Vaccinated?

Dorit Reiss 18 Comments

By Dorit Rubinstein Reiss

As promising data emerges for COVID-19 vaccines in clinical trials, two manufacturers of these vaccines, Pfizer and Moderna, have submitted requests for Emergency Use Authorizations (EUA).

An EUA would allow vaccines to be used before full FDA approval, during the time that COVID-19 is an emergency.

The promise of a safe, effective vaccine offers a glimmer of hope not just for individuals around the world affected by the pandemic, but also for businesses large and small that have struggled with closures and public health-related changes to operations. A natural question that has emerged as private businesses contemplate a return to normalcy is whether they can mandate that employees and customers receive these vaccines authorized for emergency use.

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Syringe being filled from a vial. Vaccine concept illustration.

What Does the Good News on the Vaccine Front Mean?

Dorit Reiss Leave a comment

By Dorit Rubinstein Reiss

In the past weeks, three companies in advanced stages of COVID-19 vaccine trials reported good news. Moderna and Pfizer reported, respectively, 94.5% and 95% effectiveness of their mRNA vaccines in preventing symptomatic disease and similarly high effectiveness in preventing severe disease.

This was shortly followed by news that the AstraZeneca vaccine had over 70% effectiveness, and 90% with a different dosage regime.

The companies have also reported a favorable safety profile, with no serious harms attributed to the vaccine, though the vaccines do cause a high rate of temporary and unpleasant side effects, including local reactions and temporary flu-like symptoms.

Pfizer has already applied for an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) from the FDA, and I would expect Moderna and AstraZeneca to follow suit.

What does this mean? First, a note of caution. These are reports from the companies; the FDA has not yet finished examining the data. Examination may raise questions. The data submitted has to pass dual review.

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