While there are quite a few threads discussing COVID vaccination and the race to produce a viable vaccine, I feel like this topic warrants its own thread.
With operation Warp Speed in the US and similar initiatives around the globe pushing for an approved vaccine ASAP, it's clear (likely?) that multiple vaccines will hit the market in record time. With corners being cut, there are risks involved. What are the risks and are they being effectively mitigated by the expedited testing? Will anything g-d forbid be missed, with potentially catastrophic implications?
Corners are being cut by:
- Rushing new vaccination methodologies that have never been used to market
- Rushing through and overlapping the various testing stages
- Regulatory agencies will probably trust big pharma's reports on effectiveness and safety of a tested vaccine
- Countries rushing to be the first to have a vaccine approved, before testing is completed
The biggest risks I can think of are:
- Immune enhancement - where in some cases the vaccine causes an infection to worsen by triggering unintended behavior in the immune system
- Unknown side effects that only come to light after millions of people have been vaccinated by a specific vaccine
- False presumption of immunity when a vaccine turns out to be less effective than thought (especially an issue with at-risk populations)
- Manufacturing/distribution issues do to haste, that cause the distributed vaccine doses to not be effective
Anything obvious I missed, Counter-arguments, and your thoughts are all appreciated.