States have been told to get ready to distribute a COVID-19 vaccine by November first.Dr. Jerry Simicka, associate dean of research with the college of Pharmacy at the University of North Texas Health Science Center says that's too fast.
Vaccine testing takes time and lots of testing and data. He's skeptical that this is being pushed up for political reasons. "If you happen to pick right and hit a home run on this first vaccine, that's great. Everybody will be thankful. On the other hand the chances of that occurring, you don't know. You could cause more harm than good, I think."He fears the vaccine may not be very effective and provide only a low level of immunity.
"It could cause huge problems. If the vaccine doesn't work well and everybody get vaccinated and they think they're immune, it could actually set us up for more spread" says Dr. Simicka.Candidates are currently in phase three testing. He notes people under 18 have yet to be tested. He says that's typical. "They don't test drugs and vaccines on young kinds until they at least get through these safety steps. So that will be the next stage once they have a good vaccine that works on adults."He says he would not take a vaccine that comes out in November.
