Respected science writer Carl Zimmer weighs in on Russia’s rushed coronavirus vaccine, which you have probably heard about by now.
Vaccines are among the safest medical products in the world — but only because of the intense rigor of the clinical trials that test their safety and effectiveness.
Read: ‘This Is All Beyond Stupid.’ Experts Worry About Russia’s Rushed Vaccine
This is typical Russian political brute pragmatism. They don’t give a ■■■■. Western criticism only encourages them, but must be made for our internal consumption.
Serious question here … so why shouldn’t we all just be happy that Russia is willing to volunteer just about its entire population for the largest “phase 3 trial” ever? I guess one problem would be that if Russia is done studying it and just wants to go … then it might remain unknown what sorts of side effects or efficacy it has if they aren’t interested in any followup evaluation or safety. Still, won’t it be interesting to see (courtesy of hundreds of millions of “test” subjects) how their hastily developed vaccine works out? Might we all get lucky?
I was thinking along the same lines, but would wonder if we could trust their data, and also am concerned for the safety of their citizens if they release without proper evaluation.
Mistrust would be one of the monsters in the room, I’m sure. And even if their vaccine had some success, how could other nations be sure they were sharing the same formula? Any nation or party that demonstrates its willingness to put political interests above integrity and truth (which is just about every nation including the U.S. - but perhaps some a lot more than others) has pretty much already shot itself in the foot when it comes to time like these where cooperation could have been a game saver.
The other big risk is that if there are safety issues, it would become an example used to stir up more vaccine skepticism in the general public
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