Doctor outlines safety concerns tied to race for COVID-19 vaccine – Wink News

NAPLES

A nationally renowned doctor who worked on the chickenpox vaccine gave NCH a glimpse into what a vaccine for COVID-19 could look like, including the safety concerns.

The international push for a vaccine has turned research into a race.

It will be at least six months from today before we have a licensed vaccine. And that is if everything goes right and there are no barriers unless we trade safety for speed, said Dr. Gregory Poland with the Vaccine Research Group at Mayo Clinic.

Polands specialty is vaccine research.

Were going to try something that has never before been done in modern human history and that is compress this to 12 months, he told doctors at NCH in Naples.

Poland said one concern with rushed research is a vaccine can actually make the infection worse, which happened with dengue.

People who were immunized and then infected with the wild virus actually developed worse disease than the people who are never immunized, he said.

Another concern is several vaccines hitting the market at once, allowing people to mix and match their doses as newer and more effective vaccines start rolling out.

There are actually now over 200 coronavirus vaccines in development, Poland said. Nobody is studying the interchangeability of these vaccines.

Thats why Poland said physicians need to speak up and balance that message.

You and I as physicians need to be reasoned voices educating, directing, and nudging the public.

Poland thinks January will be the earliest we may see a vaccine, and it will come with its share of issues.

Another blind spot of a potential vaccine is theyre not being tested in children or pregnant women.

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Doctor outlines safety concerns tied to race for COVID-19 vaccine - Wink News