Discussing how the approval process was different for COVID-19 vaccines and why it was safe.
In the past, it has typically taken anywhere from 5 to 10 years to create a vaccine and get it out to the general population. However, with the current ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), the world has pooled its resources and created multiple vaccines in an attempt to thwart the raging pandemic in as little as 10 months.
In a discussion surrounding the process of approving the COVID-19 mRNA vaccines like Pfizer’s and Moderna’s, as well as the safety of them, Dr. Noam Tau reassured that there was nothing to worry about.
“The basic stages of vaccine approval have not changed, and the head of the FDA, Dr. Hahn, kept stressing that the phases have not changed. The requests from the FDA company have not changed,” Tau said. “What did change was the way companies accrue money. It’s easier to find money in a pandemic.”
Dr. Tau described that many companies want to give their money to research when there is an ongoing threat to the economy. He also stated that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) made sure to use all of its forces to shorten what is usually a lengthy process due to bureaucracy.
“Bureaucracy can take years and years and years, although the study itself can take a few months each phase.” He explained.
In regards to the short length of the recent approval process for COVID-19 vaccines, Dr. Tau said that it was completely safe, and that the mRNA technology has been studied for over a decade.
“It’s funny,” Tau said. “Everyone kept saying we need a vaccine fast, bring it as fast as we can. Now people say, it’s too fast, please stop.”