This year has been a roller coaster for just about everyone for a variety of reasons, with the primary contributor being the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, with a vaccine showing promising results people are starting to see a light at the end of the tunnel. Yet, with such a rush to create this possibly life-saving medication, how ready will it be for widespread human distribution throughout the globe? Currently, with several candidate vaccines in trial, other drugs are being repurposed to attempt to combat symptoms without actually eradicating the virus. Antimalarial, antineoplastic, antidiabetic, and immunomodulatory drugs are all being used on COVID-19 patients with relatively inconclusive results. Of these medications, Remdesivir and Favipiravir have shown the most promise, but still need much more research to prove efficacy and safety.
As of Monday, November 9th, Pfizer, BioNTech reported that their vaccine candidate BNT162b2 has been shown to be 90% effective among trial participants in their phase 3 study. With this progress, it has been said that COVID-19 vaccines could be available as early as December for frontline workers. Additionally, Anthony Fauci of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease stated that he believes a lot of Americans will elect to not receive the vaccine right away if it is available to the public. So therein lies the ethical dilemma: a vaccine could be available to save lives and prevent the spread of the virus; however, like with all vaccines, no one will be required to get the vaccine.
If vaccines weren't already controversial enough, now we are dealing with one that will work towards resolving a global pandemic. But what are the long-term effects of this new drug? Will varying physiologies and ethnicities react differently to the drug? How can it be made available to humans worldwide? Who gets the vaccine first? These are all considerations that research and public/global health will need to meet in the middle on in order for the implementation of the vaccine to be as ethical and efficacious as possible.
Per the FDA commissioner, Dr. Stephen Hahn, they are "committed to expediting the development of COVID-19 vaccines, but not at the expense of sound science and decision making." This is promising to hear, but given the global climate of fear, the volatility of economies worldwide, the pressures on/from governments, and the financial ramifications of creating a vaccine that will target a virus that resulted in a pandemic...how steadfast can the leadership of such an organization be? Where is the breaking point where the findings are "good enough" to give the stamp of approval and try and return the world to some sense of normalcy? Unfortunately, I don't know that anyone has this answer. However, as Dr. Campisi has recommended, what we can do is develop an educated opinion and stand by that moral compass which transcends a variety of ethical topics. With that, let's all hope that researchers and public officials can come to a consensus that is best for the world and the future of mankind.
References:
Shende, P., Khanolkar, B., & Gaud, R. S. (2020). Drug repurposing: new strategies for addressing COVID-19 outbreak. Expert review of anti-infective therapy, 10.1080/14787210.2021.1851195. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/14787210.2021.1851195
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/help-is-coming-and-its-coming-soon-dr-fauci-outlines-when-covid-19-vaccination-will-be-available-to-all-americans-2020-11-12
https://www.fda.gov/emergency-preparedness-and-response/coronavirus-disease-2019-covid-19/covid-19-vaccines
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