07 Sep Making Sense of Bioethics. Accelerating Vaccine Development.
THE NATIONAL CATHOLIC BIOETHICS CENTER – April 2020
Father Tad Pacholczyk. Director of Education.
Creating a new vaccine and bringing it to market typically requires more than a decade of research and clinical testing. Many companies and research groups are working overtime to shorten this timeline dramatically in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Some have suggested it may be possible to develop a vaccine within a year or two, but such a feat would be a first, especially considering that no vaccine for any type of coronavirus has ever been successfully developed.
The former director at the Food and Drug Administration’s Office of Biotechnology put it this way:
«Scientists have tried unsuccessfully for decades to develop a vaccine to prevent HIV/AIDS and a ‘universal’ flu vaccine that wouldn’t need to be reformulated and readministered every year. All have been duds.»
Another specialist in the field of infectious diseases, when asked about the prospects of a quick Covid-19 vaccine, demurred, saying it would require a “home run” and “nearly everything to go right.” CLICK TO READ MORE