AstraZeneca, a British pharmaceutical giant, has been developing its vaccine in collaborating with the University of Oxford. After the Phase 2 study, AstraZeneca has announced that their experimental Covid-19 vaccine has produced an immune response in both older adults (high-risk group) and in younger adults. This announcement led to the 1% rise in shares of AstraZeneca in Monday’s (10/26) US premarket, according to MarketWatch. The potential vaccine, “AZD1222,” triggers protective antibodies and T-cells for at least 56 days.
The Wall Street Journal reports that “the vaccine, now in late-stage human trials, aimed at showing its efficacy and safety, is a front-runner in the global spring for a shot to protect lives and jump-start economies hobbled by the pandemic. Trials in the U.K. could produce results before year-end, fueling hopes among scientists and government leaders that a vaccine might be available for high-risk groups here by early 2021.”
However, although the early-stage interim results suggest that the vaccine is safe and that it triggers promising responses, it doesn’t yet prove that it offers long-term immunity or that it has a confirmed safety profile. For example, AstraZeneca paused its trials for a week when a volunteer in the UK developed an “unexplained illness.” They continued their trials, later saying that unexplained illnesses can happen “by chance” in large trials, and must be independently reviewed.
Governments around the world are still debating the timeline for offering Covid-19 vaccines to the public, as drugmakers speed up development. The implications of fast-tracking vaccines are real. Bodily functions can be affected adversely, and companies wouldn’t know short and long-term effects until further research.
I think the largest repercussion of fast-tracking the Covid-19 vaccines is that people will lose trust, both in the government, and in pharmaceutical companies. They will lose trust in the government for pushing the quick distribution of these vaccines with low efficacy (response of the drug in the body), and they will lose faith in the pharmaceutical companies that manufacture these drugs, as they may start to believe that other medications have been produced and will be produced at an unconventionally fast rate, and that these medications might be unsafe to use.
6 comments:
I think that people have already lost trust in these Pharmecudiacal Companies, and the evidence is in the stock price. A 1% increase is completely insignificant. When I checked today, it was down 2%. The fact is, claims like these are not new. Everybody seems to be "making progress" on their vaccine, but no one has a vaccine yet. Except Russia, apparently. Until there is a legitimate vaccine being sent out and used by people, I don't think these status updates are that big of a deal. The time line sounds good if it actually happens. Early 2021 means we may be able to return to normal life in the spring. I also wonder if the outcome of the election next week will influence the scientific trials. Would Trump be more likely to put pressure on Pharmaceutical companies to expedite the process? And if so, would you be in favor of a faster vaccine coming even if it comes about through unethical means? For example, like a Challenge Trial.
Pharmaceutical companies will get criticism for fast tracking a vaccine that isn't thoroughly tested, yet the public will be angered the more time is spent without a vaccine. It's unfortunate that the current situation prevents from there being a winner. I don't think that a distrust in pharmaceutical companies will arise, since they hold the ultimate scientific authority. To respond to Michael's claim, a 1% increase in stock price may seem insignificant, but it means a lot of money in the grand scheme of things, and as the vaccine becomes more available that number is likely to skyrocket, like how we saw with zoom earlier this year. I still think early 2021 as a date to "return to normal life" is optimistic, and I wouldn't be surprised if we ended up finishing the school year at home.
In the U.S, Moderna has also made a lot of progress towards it's vaccine, claiming to have tens of millions ready by the end of this year and many tens of millions more by the beginning of 2021. I think that a lot of mistrust about the vaccine might be due in part to both the Trump administration's statements about the vaccine and previous experiences with pharmaceutical companies. There had been a lot of controversy about these large corporations overcharging for basic human needs such as insulin, and being greedy, money focused companies. However, I've heard that the covid-19 vaccine would be free, which might help eliminate any anger for overcharging. Additionally, Trump directly contradicting statements from health officials might have also built a public mistrust of the virus. Ultimately, if a vaccine is officially approved by the CDC, FDA, other health official company, I think there would be no need for a mistrust of the vaccine and the public should take it.
One of the main sparks for the Anti-Vax movement was the 1998 MMR vaccine research study by Andrew Wakefield, which incorrectly suggested that there was a causation relationship between the administration of the MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella) vaccine and the supposed “contraction” of autism. While this paper was heavily criticized by the scientific community and ultimately retracted by the author (he lost his medical license), this misinformation had already created a fear that ran deep into the worldwide community as MMR vaccination rates dropped. Although this is not the same situation, there are definitely things we can pick up from this past incident to prevent a further distrust in vaccines, the government, and the healthcare field. Yet, I think there might already be a growing distrust or despise of the healthcare field because of their prioritization of their profit-driven model seen in the overly-expensive medications and treatments. There is still an opioid crisis in the US.
I think Nathan brought up a very interesting point regarding public opinion on vaccine production and research timelines. It seems incredibly ignorant for the public to demand high-quality yet extremely safe vaccines to be produced as quickly as possible.
Even before the pandemic, tons of people have been distrusting of big pharmaceutical companies. They are shrouded in controversies regarding overcharging for medicine and other basic essentials that certain people need in order to survive, for the purpose of gaining more money instead of helping those in need. But in our situation now, it is hopeful that a vaccine will be developed successfully soon, but either way you see it, they will get backlash if they release it too early or too slow. Even if people are distrustful of the government currently, I doubt the CDC/FDA will allow for an unsafe vaccine to be released in hopes and that it will undergo rigorous testing before it is even released widely for the public. It seems hopeful that a vaccine will be developed safely and successfully by early 2021, and that by then we will be able to return to our normal lives and be out of quarantine.
One positive to my more ~delayed~ commenting style is that more information on a COVID-19 vaccine has now been released. U.S. company Pfizer and its partner BioNTech, a German company, announced early results "that suggested their vaccine was more than 90 percent effective" (NYT). Many Americans and people nationwide were overjoyed by this news yesterday, myself included, but it should be noted just because these preliminary results looking very promising the general public should not expect a vaccine tomorrow. Just like AstraZeneca's possible vaccine, with its generally positive results, the vaccine will not solve or end the pandemic overnight. It could be stated that Pfizer's vaccine is looking more positive at the moment, as of 44,000 participants, only 94 got COVID-19. Overall, the trust should be put and remain in the global scientific community as all these companies producing promising vaccines demonstrates the hard work and progress they are making. The part where people might become overly skeptical without knowing the procedures, is in the wording of "emergency authorization." The general public sees "emergency" and then automatically thinks rushed, but that is not true. The CDC is not lowering the qualifications and bars a vaccine must past, but instead speeding up the other year-long processes that occur without the pandemic pressures. These include starting production of vaccine delivery and pushing vaccines to the top of the review lists, all to cut down on the waiting time, but not the vaccine testing time and trials. Thus, Americans should continue to believe in these companies and their vaccines.
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2020/pfizer-covid-19-vaccine
Post a Comment