On Vaccines, Treatment and Public Trust
Recent comments by Merck CEO Ken Frazier, Dr. Anthony Fauci, and a Johns Hopkins lead research team focusing on COVID-19 vaccines are presented below. (Note: there are over 150 development efforts, 23 human clinical trials, and at least three vaccines in final Phase III testing.)
Merck CEO Ken Frazier, during an interview at Harvard Business School (July 13)
“No one knows for sure whether or not any of these vaccine programs will produce a vaccine...
"What worries me the most is that the public is so hungry, so desperate to go back to normalcy, that they are pushing us to move things faster and faster. But ultimately, if you're going to use a vaccine in billions of people, you better know what that vaccine does.
“There are a lot of examples of vaccines in the past that have stimulated the immune system, but ultimately didn't confer protection ...
"And unfortunately, there are some cases where it stimulated the immune system and not only it didn't confer protection, but actually helped the virus invade the cell because it was incomplete in terms of its immunogenic properties. We have to be very careful."
Note: Merck is a global leader in the development and delivery of vaccines.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, during an interview with Mark Zuckerberg (July 16)
“I hope and anticipate that we will have one or more [vaccines]. If that's the case, by the time we get to the end of this year, the beginning of calendar year 2021, we may have one or more candidates that are actually safe and effective. That being the case, we can start distributing doses widely at that time.
"If [the research process] works, they've saved months, if it doesn't work, we've lost a lot of money. But we figure it's worth the risk.
"I'm really quite cautiously optimistic that we'll be able to have something as we get into the end of this year and the beginning of next year.”
“The Public’s Role in COVID-19 Vaccination” (July 9), from a report by Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, the Texas State University anthropology department and 23 medical experts
“If poorly designed and executed, a Covid-19 vaccination campaign in the U.S. could undermine the increasingly tenuous belief in vaccines and the public health authorities that recommend them — especially among people most at risk of Covid-19 impacts.”
“Much is still unknown about what the diverse US public knows, believes, feels, cares about, hopes, and fears in relation to SARS-CoV-2 vaccines …
"Optimistic projections about vaccine development timelines and emphasis on unprecedented speed appear to be fostering unrealistic expectations about availability, as well as safety concerns about rushed product or compromised safety guards. Some communities are worried about being the future subject of experimentation.
"Underestimated COVID-19 disease risk, engendered by an uneven government response, could dampen future public demand for vaccines."
OUR TAKE
Significant funding, the ability to leverage prior research efforts (HIV, Elbola, SARS, etc.) and advances in technology, are facilitating a "fast track" process, but the fast process may increase the use of short-cuts that introduce unexpected risks.
A single COVID-19 vaccine solution may be unlikely because of 1) the biological differences among humans and 2) the unknown duration of a vaccine's effectiveness.
As efforts on vaccine candidates continue, more work is needed on 1) developing distribution processes, 2) determining how to cover its costs in the short-term (during the pandemic) and long-term (supporting recurring treatments) and 3) making vaccines accessible in developing economies.
Given the uneven approaches to COVID-19 prevention, there will be a continuing need for resources and research to treat COVID-19 as well.