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7:11 a.m. - 2020-10-15
QUESTIONS ABOUT NEW VACCINES
When a new vaccine--or, more generally, a new drug--is released to the market, there are several questions which the careful healthcare consumer might want to ask himself.

BACKGROUND
What type of vaccine is it (attenuated, inactivated, DNA, etc)?
What has been the success rate of this type of vaccine in the past?
What is the reputation of the company that developed the vaccine?
Have they developed successful vaccines in the past?

SCIENCE
Was the vaccine released under an Emergency Use Authorization or a Biological License Application? The latter usually requires more convincing evidence.
Were the data from the clinical trials made public?
Were the studies published in a refereed journal, or only by press release?
What is the reaction of the scientific/medical community to the vaccine?

CLINICAL TRIALS
How many test subjects were enrolled in the Phase 3 clinical trials?
Was the vaccine tested in more than one age group, and were the results within age groups as promising as for the general population?
What was the per cent efficacy in clinical trials?
What side effects were observed and with what frequency?
Were the clinical trials double blinded and placebo-controlled?

VACCINE CHARACTERISTICS
Are there problems with stability that might lead to getting a degraded/ineffective sample?
Is a single dose effective, or are boosters needed?
Is there a sufficient supply?
How does the antibody response to the vaccine compare to antibody levels in convalescent plasma?
Is immunity durable over time?
Are the antibodies neutralizing or only binding? Non-neutralizing antibodies bind to the pathogen but do not interfere with its infectivity.
Does the vaccine elicit both a humoral and cellular response?

 

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