FDA approval for one or more of the Covid-19 vaccines that have been developed are only days if not hours away. (As I write this, Monday, Nov. 30, morning.) One concern being expressed is whether people will actually get the vaccine. Estimates I've heard and read are as high as 40% of Americans would refuse to be vaccinated. Some of that may be the general distrust of some of vaccines. The anti-vaxxer movement has raised paranoia concerning vaccines, all vaccines and is a public health concern.
But there has been addition anti-vaccine sentiment raised against the Covid-19 vaccine that has been politically driven. This anti-vaccine meme was fostered by the general anti-Trump, "Orange man bad," meme. If Trump is involved, or if Trump is pushing it, whatever "it" is, it must be bad. Thus since Trump has pushed for the rapid development of the vaccine and desired the vaccine to be ready for use before the election (presumably to help his reelection prospects) the vaccines developed cannot be safe since obviously Trump short circuited the proper testing of the vaccines. Therefore we cannot trust them.
That has been simply playing politics with public health. Does anyone have any hard evidence that the testing of these vaccines has been substandard, or that they are being rushed to general use before they have been properly tested? If anything, the news reports on the testing has demonstrated that the proper caution and testing has been followed, at time delaying certain vaccines because a possible problem cropped up that needed to be further examined.
If Trump were to have used his power to push through the vaccines without adequate testing for political gain, he failed. Only now, nearly a month after election day are the vaccines up for approval. Even if he had tried to rush inadequately tested vaccines through, and please, could we see the evidence of that chicanery, it didn't work.
The vaccines up for approval are showing a better than 90% effectiveness. Those who are vaccinated will be generally safe from Covid-19 and for them the vaccination will be a success. But if the vaccines are to be effective in ending the pandemic and reducing Covid-19 to a seasonal annoyance like the flu, they will need to be generally used by a large percentage of the population. Distrust of the vaccines as an expression of dislike for Trump and anything he had anything to do with may prolong the pandemic even after he leaves office.
I had a conversation about this with a nurse in my office today. As a physician who cares for hospitalized patients (although generally not for COVID patients), I anticipate being vaccinated in the next 4-6 weeks. I will, of course, want to read the scientific reports of the trials before making a final decision, but what has been publicly reported is very promising. I'm eager to be vaccinated not only because I anticipate that it will protect me, but also to give credibility to my recommendations to my patients. I think there are several talking points that may help allay some suspicions about the rapidity of the process.
-Both the Pfizer and the Moderna vaccines use mRNA technology. While it is true that this is a new technology requiring careful scrutiny for safety, the nature of the process permits much faster production, because the time-consuming process of viral culture can be bypassed.
-Because the government assumed much of the financial risk, steps that ordinarily are conducted in sequence could be conducted in parallel. Setting up a phase 3 trial requires a huge investment, and drug companies generally would not make such an investment until having final results of a phase 2 trial. Thus the risk in this case was a financial risk, not a safety risk associated with skipping steps in the process.
-Ironically, the rapidity with which the phase 3 trials were conducted was due in large measure to the high rates of disease across the country. The effectiveness of a vaccine is demonstrated by showing a convincing reduction in disease in the vaccinated group compared to the control group, something that cannot be demonstrated until enough people in the control group get sick. The high rates of disease during the trial meant that this unfortunate but necessary benchmark was reached relatively quickly.
Again, I still want to see the final, peer-reviewed reports, but I am very optimistic.
Peace,
Jon
