Opinion/Editorial: Remaining wary of a vaccine that doesn’t yet exist

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Wednesday unveiled plans to start handing out COVID-19 vaccines for free within a day of government approval. This could happen this year, though more likely in the next.

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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Wednesday unveiled plans to start handing out COVID-19 vaccines for free within a day of government approval. This could happen this year, though more likely in the next.

The same day the CDC released its distribution plan, the agency’s director, Robert Redfield, told a Senate Appropriations subcommittee that, actually, a vaccine isn’t likely to be widely available until next summer, though some doses might be available sooner. That seemed much more reasonable, if still optimistic, and not out of line with what scientists have been saying all along.

No, no, President Trump said later that day : A vaccine will be ready by late October or early November. Period. Redfield was “confused,” Trump said, and made a mistake in his estimate. In fact, White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows said, the administration plans to have 100 million doses of the vaccine ready in October and 300 million by January.

If Redfield is confused, it would be perfectly understandable. We are all confused. The White House has been consistently inconsistent on pandemic information from the start, and it’s unclear whether the statements on a vaccine timeline are just wishful thinking or, more ominously, indicate political ultimatums given to the drugmakers that received billions in U.S. aid for their vaccine trials.

The pharmaceutical companies working on vaccine candidates are evidently concerned about the mass confusion and its potential to sow public distrust. Earlier this month, nine of the leading drugmakers took the remarkable step of jointly pledging to the public that they will not cut corners and will release a vaccine only if it meets established safety and efficacy standards. Two companies, Moderna and

Pfizer, took the pledge to the next level Thursday and released internal documents detailing how they are conducting their late-stage coronavirus vaccine trials. The documents also contradict the president’s rosy predictions of having a vaccine by election day.

Judging from his public comments, Trump believes that anyone questioning the integrity of a “warp speed” vaccine development process is simply trying to undermine his leadership. The president tweeted Thursday: “The Democrats are just ANGRY that the vaccine and delivery are so far ahead of schedule. They hate what they are seeing. Saving lives should make them happy, not sad!” In a bit of verbal acrobatics, Trump has accused former Vice President Joe Biden of feeding “anti-vax” hysteria because Biden dared to suggest he wouldn’t trust a COVID-19 vaccine if Trump alone called it safe _ he’d wait for the experts to make that call.

Politicizing vaccines is dangerous game for the president to play. Well before COVID-19 appeared, skepticism had been growing over immunizations used safely for decades, leading to a drop in immunization rates and a spate of measles outbreaks. Now, polls show that many Americans are wary of a COVID-19 vaccine developed so quickly, and they may choose not to get immunized rather than take the risk of experiencing harmful side effects. And heaven help us all if a future COVID-19 vaccine is harmful, which is always a possibility and why surveillance of vaccines continues even after they get regulatory approval. It could do immeasurable damage to public health for decades to come.

Los Angeles Times

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