Consequences From Rushing a Faulty Vaccine to Market?

[AsherO]

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.

[aygart]

Such fallout can potentially extend to the credibility of other vaccines as well.

[gozalim]

Sounds like Russia and China are offering to be the Guinea pigs on this

[AsherO]

Sounds like Russia and China are offering to be the Guinea pigs on this

Not really, with many countries (Russia and China included) producing their own vaccines and well over 100 vaccines in development, you're mistaken about this.

[biobook]

Just comments:
1. "Fallout from..." implies problems, so maybe edit title to "Consequences of...", to include discussion of the advantages.
2.  I think "Unknown side effects that only come to light after millions of people have been vaccinated" should have a lower number, but I don't know if this is hundreds of thousands or tens of thousands.  That is, a side effect that only affects one in a million may be within the range of everyday OTC medications, and therefore acceptable.
3.  I know that I've seen these issues discussed in newspapers and interviews over the past months, so it would be helpful to include some of that information.

[zh cohen]

2.  I think "Unknown side effects that only come to light after millions of people have been vaccinated" should have a lower number, but I don't know if this is hundreds of thousands or tens of thousands.  That is, a side effect that only affects one in a million may be within the range of everyday OTC medications, and therefore acceptable.

I think his point is that we may only learn of the side effect after millions have been vaccinated. It is possible that by the time we realize the side effect, millions will have already taken the vaccine thinking it is safe.

[AsherO]

Just comments:
1. "Fallout from..." implies problems, so maybe edit title to "Consequences of...", to include discussion of the advantages.
2.  I think "Unknown side effects that only come to light after millions of people have been vaccinated" should have a lower number, but I don't know if this is hundreds of thousands or tens of thousands.  That is, a side effect that only affects one in a million may be within the range of everyday OTC medications, and therefore acceptable.
3.  I know that I've seen these issues discussed in newspapers and interviews over the past months, so it would be helpful to include some of that information.

1. I renamed the thread.
2. The issue will be most significant if the side effects are serious, pervasive, and after a signficiant population has been vaccinated. Hence "millions".
3. It definitely didn't all come from my imagination, too lazy to post links tbh.

[AsherO]

I think his point is that we may only learn of the side effect after millions have been vaccinated. It is possible that by the time we realize the side effect, millions will have already taken the vaccine thinking it is safe.

Exactly.

[biobook]

2. The issue will be most significant if the side effects are serious, pervasive, and after a signficiant population has been vaccinated. Hence "millions".

Millions can't be vaccinated overnight.  Are you familiar with the phases of the vaccine testing, and the numbers involved?  (I'm not.)  Some are getting the vaccine today.  How many will have gotten it by the end of December?  How many in the first 6 months? 

3. It definitely didn't all come from my imagination, too lazy to post links tbh.

Yes, that's what I thought.  But not everyone here is a consumer of medical news, and some may read  "Risks I can think of" as implying "Risks that the powers-that-be are not thinking of".  And another conspiracy theory takes off.

[zh cohen]

Millions can't be vaccinated overnight.

Right, but is it possible that the side affects only become apparent 6-12 months after taking the vaccine?

[biobook]

Right, but is it possible that the side affects only become apparent 6-12 months after taking the vaccine?

Phase 3 trials that recently started will have 30,000 people in each.  If it is effective and there are no severe adverse events, it will be approved and ready for use end of 2020 or beginning of 2021, so that lets us see what side effects occur within 6 months.  The first doses will probably not be offered to the general public, but to those especially vulnerable themselves (nursing home patients) or vulnerable due to environment (health professionals).  So that gives us even more time to wait on the sidelines and watch to see if there are problems with the first group treated.

Guillain-Barre Syndrome, a very rare condition which has sometimes been associated with vaccines, develops in the days or weeks after vaccination. 
https://www.cdc.gov/vaccinesafety/concerns/guillain-barre-syndrome.html

The WHO lists some severe adverse reactions from common vaccines, and most occur within hours or days.  The one that shows a possible longer time to onset (up to one year) is extremely rare (1 out of 1,000,000 injections).

https://vaccine-safety-training.org/vaccine-reactions.html

[mercaz1]

did anyone see I am Legend

no concerns?

[Lurker]

https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/12/health/johnson-coronavirus-vaccine-pause-bn/index.html