Adrian Hernandez, MD, MHS, HERO Research Program principal investigator, recently shared his opinion in STAT News on the recent pauses of three COVID-19 vaccine trials.
“Holds and pauses certainly aren’t restricted to COVID-19 trials in the clinical trials sphere,” says Hernandez. “I believe that these three pauses show that the system is working.”
The goals of vaccine trials are to show a therapy is safe and effective in preventing infection. And in the era of COVID-19, researchers need to prove this in an extremely compressed timeline. What would typically take several years is now happening over several months.
With an accelerated timeline, confidence in the regulatory approval process is critical to willingness by the public to get vaccinated. A recent STAT-Harris Poll shows that Americans are less willing now to get a COVID-19 vaccine than they were a few months ago. In mid-August, 69% of Americans said they would get a vaccine once available. Asked again in October, only 58% said they would get vaccinated. The lack of interest was especially evident in Black individuals — 65% were interested in the first poll but only 43% in the second poll.
Hernandez shares how these recent holds in vaccine trials can help establish trust in the research system and acceptance when a vaccine is approved.
“It tells the American public that everyone is committed not just to developing new treatments, but to developing ones that are safe and effective. It also reassures current and future participants about taking part in studies of these new treatments that everyone is treating safety as a primary concern.” To read Hernandez’s entire opinion, visit STAT News.