Coronavirus vaccines should be fast-tracked by the FDA
The R Street Institute’s Chelsea Boyd, an epidemiologist who researches harm reduction, told me she wasn’t so keen on Singer’s idea of a “right to try” approach to the vaccine.
“I have mixed feelings about that,” Boyd said, “just because [the coronavirus] is not an assured death even for at-risk populations. And when you give vaccines to immunocompromised folks, who are often not eligible for standard clinical trials, well … that’s risky.”
She warned the same populations at risk for coronavirus are also at risk for taking risky medications.
However, Boyd explained that one option worth considering is the “emergency use authorization” process established under the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Reauthorization Act of 2013. This process permits the FDA to allow “unapproved medical products or unapproved uses of approved medical products to be used in an emergency to diagnose, treat, or prevent serious or life-threatening diseases or conditions … when there are no adequate, approved, and available alternatives.”
