Ethical and Scientific Considerations Regarding the Early Approval and Deployment of a COVID-19 Vaccine

Rafael Dal-Ré; Arthur L Caplan; Christian Gluud; Raphaël Porcher

doi:10.7326/M20-7357

Ethical and Scientific Considerations Regarding the Early Approval and Deployment of a COVID-19 Vaccine

Ann Intern Med. 2021 Feb;174(2):258-260. doi: 10.7326/M20-7357. Epub 2020 Nov 20.

Authors

Rafael Dal-Ré¹, Arthur L Caplan², Christian Gluud³, Raphaël Porcher⁴

Affiliations

¹ Epidemiology Unit, Health Research Institute-Fundación Jiménez Díaz University Hospital, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain (R.D.).
² Division of Medical Ethics, Grossman School of Medicine, NYU Langone Medical Center, New York, New York (A.L.C.).
³ The Copenhagen Trial Unit, Centre for Clinical Intervention Research, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen University Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark (C.G.).
⁴ Université de Paris, Centre of Research in Epidemiology and Statistics (CRESS-UMR1153), Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, Paris, France (R.P.).

Abstract

This commentary discusses the early licensing and deployment of a COVID-19 vaccine and how accomplishing this goal could compromise ethical principles that guide clinical research.

Publication types

Editorial

MeSH terms

COVID-19 / epidemiology
COVID-19 / prevention & control*
COVID-19 Vaccines*
Drug Industry / ethics*
Ethics, Research*
Humans
Pandemics
Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic / ethics*
Research Design
SARS-CoV-2
United States
United States Food and Drug Administration

Substances

COVID-19 Vaccines