How is the COVID vaccine still safe when it was made so quickly?
Vaccines have been around for centuries. Since the creation of the first vaccine in 1798, vaccines have become commonplace in our healthcare systems (“A brief history of vaccination”, 2021). However, with the COVID-19 virus starting in January of 2020, the commonplace notion of a vaccine was replaced with controversy. Medical experts across the world raced to achieve a vaccine against this deadly virus and succeeded in just about one year. But this timeline was too fast for many people to believe. How can something made so quickly still be safe? In this narrative, I visualize the accelerated timeline of the COVID-19 vaccine and relate it to the timelines of other vaccines in our history.
Once the first vaccination was created, starting with smallpox, it only took a mere four years to have it widely used by the public. Other long-term diseases and viruses of past centuries quickly followed suit as medical professionals came up with various vaccines. Looking at this table, you can see how different vaccines have varying timelines; It all depends on the research and trials that go into making a vaccine. It is no secret that the COVID-19 vaccine took the quickest to make in history. By December of 2020, companies began the process of rolling out vaccines for use. Although this may seem fairly quick, it wasn’t just made overnight. Each vaccine of the modern century must jump through a series of hoops to end up reaching the public.
The average vaccine takes roughly 6 years to create. Within these 6 years, various phases help the vaccine become the safest and most effective it can be. It includes starting with a lot of research, testing on a lot of subjects, and distributing to a lot of people. The vaccine process is no easy feat. Adding in modern technology has allowed our healthcare field to accomplish this process time and time again, with vaccines becoming more efficient the more they are made.
The COVID-19 vaccine is no exception to these phases. There is research, testing, and trials to run before it makes it anywhere near our body.
As you can see, the COVID-19 vaccine went through the same phases any other vaccine would go through. The only difference was its unprecedented speed. For reasons such as prior research and advanced technology, the vaccine was able to combine phases of its process. Instead of solely having Phase I, II, and III, the majority of leading vaccines had these phases combined.
Averaging these combined phases, we can account for them taking half or less than half of the time of a normal vaccine phase.
Looking at these phases, you might be wondering exactly how they were accelerated. The below reasons help to shed light on each stage of the process:
Research & Development (R&D) + Preclinical Trials Vaccine Candidates Identified + Phase I Clinical Trials
These phases, originally adding up to an 8 month period, were accelerated by a variety of factors. The moment the viral genome sequence was available, vaccine candidates were created (U.S. Department of Defense, 2021). Because this virus was affecting so many people at once, researchers were truly able to look at who the virus affected and find citizens willing to volunteer to put a stop to it. Another reason for this acceleration is because of research of previous vaccines. “Scientists were able to get a boost from research on similar coronaviruses that cause severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and the Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS)” (Smith, 2021). Although COVID-19 in particular was new to us, there have been many similar coronaviruses that were being studied prior to the outbreak.
Phase II + Phase III Clinical Trials + Manufacturing
As mentioned before, many of these trials were accelerated as they were combined in the process to create the COVID-19 vaccine. The process of Phase II and III clinical trials normally takes 42 months in total, but instead, it took just six. The FDA normally takes 12 months to approve volunteer groups but instead took three. With this quick approval, researchers were able to find enough volunteers, around 30,000 of diverse populations, to participate in these safety and efficacy trials. This allowed for rapid collection of data and an overall accelerated process. By July of 2020, there were already two leading candidates ready for Phase III trials after showing their safety data from both humans and animals (U.S. Department of Defense, 2021).
As these trials were going on, manufacturing was also underway. Due to the U.S. government giving large funds to this process, they were ready for whichever vaccine candidate was approved first (U.S. Department of Defense, 2021). The grave nature of COVID-19 allowed for Emergency Use Authorization to take place, meaning the vaccine would be distributed after the conclusion of short-term studies.
The first COVID-19 vaccine was given to healthcare workers on December 14th of 2020 (AD Council COVID Collaborative, 2021).
So now that you know the COVID-19 vaccine has gone through these same phases, it makes sense for it to be safe, in the short term. The only question today’s researchers have is for the long-term. Luckily enough, the number of volunteers and citizens who have gotten the vaccine will prove to create great research for these upcoming long-term studies. Not only has the vaccine been proven to help people as of now, but it is also seeming to do so for the near future.
More and more people are getting vaccinated against COVID-19 every day. These numbers are not only helping the herd immunity of the general public but also the research for future vaccines to come. Just as past coronaviruses helped us create this vaccine, the COVID-19 vaccine will be able to be studied and used to protect us against any future pandemics.
So next time you are worried about how fast it was made and how it's unlike other vaccines, think again. The COVID-19 vaccine went through the same process any other vaccine goes through, just at a quicker rate to help the public. We can only have science to thank for this amazing feat.
I urge you to get your vaccine, not only because it is safe, but because it will help future generations to come.
Below are more resources for you to get informed.
References and Resources:
A brief history of vaccination. (2021). Retrieved 2 July 2021, from https://www.immune.org.nz/vaccines/vaccine-development/brief-history-vaccination
Coon, L.(2021). The history of vaccines and how they’re developed. Retrieved 2 July 2021, from https://www.osfhealthcare.org/blog/the-history-of-vaccines-and-how-theyre-developed/
Coronavirus: Operation Warp Speed. U.S. Department of Defense. (n.d.). https://www.defense.gov/Explore/Spotlight/Coronavirus/Operation-Warp-Speed/.
Coronavirus Vaccine Tracker. (2021). Retrieved 2 July 2021, from https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/science/coronavirus-vaccine-tracker.html
COVID Data Tracker. (2021). Retrieved 2 July 2021, from https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#vaccination-trends
COVID-19 vaccine: How was it developed so fast?. (2021). Retrieved 2 July 2021, from https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/how-did-we-develop-a-covid-19-vaccine-so-quickly
Get Vaccine Answers: How we know COVID-19 vaccines are safe. The Ad Council. (n.d.). https://getvaccineanswers.org/question/vaccine-safety?gclid=Cj0KCQjw5uWGBhCTARIsAL70sLItVjmtb5tNhn8Ps84ALgzzgZXvvymitzo2c9QP9lXCxbWecVafMM0aAtiWEALw_wcB#did-the-clinical-trials-include-people-like-me.
How were researchers able to develop COVID-19 vaccines so quickly?. (2021). Retrieved 2 July 2021, from https://news.uchicago.edu/story/how-were-researchers-able-develop-covid-19-vaccines-so-quickly
Smith, M. W. (2021, May 11). Coronavirus (COVID-19) Vaccine: How Long Will Finding a Vaccine Take? WebMD. https://www.webmd.com/vaccines/covid-19-vaccine/covid-19-vaccine#2.
Step 3: Clinical Research. (2021). Retrieved 2 July 2021, from https://www.fda.gov/patients/drug-development-process/step-3-clinical-research#:~:text=During%20Phase%201%20studies%2C%20researchers,condition%20participate%20in%20Phase%201
The Trump Administration’s ‘Operation Warp Speed’ Has Spent $12.4 Billion on Vaccines. How Much Is That, Really?. (2021). Retrieved 2 July 2021, from https://time.com/5921360/operation-warp-speed-vaccine-spending/
