Panel Recommends Skipping Most Swine Flu Vaccine Safety Trials
Filed under Swine Flu Vaccine |
A panel at the National Biodefense Safety Board (NBSB) has voted unanimously to recommend that the swine flu vaccine trials should be rushed and that only preliminary safety and effectiveness trials should be done so that the vaccines can be ready by September.
Getting swine flu vaccine by September means skipping all but the most preliminary clinical tests of vaccine safety and effectiveness. But it means getting some 60 million to 80 million doses nearly at the same time the CDC expects the next wave of the pandemic to hit the U.S.
...
Why deploy a vaccine that hasn't completed safety and efficacy testing? Because we already have a lot of experience with similar vaccines, concluded the NBSB flu vaccine working group, led by University of Utah flu expert Andrew Pavia, MD.
Experience with other vaccines? You mean vaccines like the 1976 swine flu vaccine that caused death, paralysis, and lifelong disability for hundreds of people? You mean that kind of experience?
Initial doses likely will go to those most severely hit by the pandemic so far: infants, toddlers, school-age children, pregnant women, and adults with risk factors for severe flu disease.
Right, so they're going to inject those whose immune systems are the most vulnerable with a vaccine that hasn't been properly tested. Yeah, that sounds like a good plan.
While you're browsing our articles, take a moment to enter your email below to receive free Swine Flu Blog updates via email. (We value your privacy and will never sell or give away your e-mail. You can unsubscribe at any time.)
