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We shouldn’t be talking about plunging ahead with new vaccine dosing schemes without data when we’ve already got schedules that work well, esp when we can’t distribute the supplies we have! My latest for @guardian with the great @GermHunterMD: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/jan/06/mrna-vaccines-schedule-covid-19
There are a few reasons for this:
1. Right now supplies are much less of an issue than distribution. Why discuss stretching supplies when we can’t get the supplies we have into people’s arms?
1. Right now supplies are much less of an issue than distribution. Why discuss stretching supplies when we can’t get the supplies we have into people’s arms?
2. We spent all of 2020 achieving a huge scientific breakthrough: developing and authorizing highly efficacious vaccines in record time. Why would we just subvert that process to strike ahead with untested dosing regimens?
3. The effects of subpar immunity and the possible resultant selection of escape variants is a worst case scenario that we shouldn’t risk.
4. Even conducting a trial to look at alternate dosing is probably a waste of time and resources since the supply issue is likely a short-term problem as manufacturing ramps up and other phase 3 trials read out.
5. Just changing the tested, authorized dosing regimes because of a short-term “crisis” (and supply isn’t the biggest bottleneck with vaccines right now) reduces confidence in the entire process.
6. Even if we magically solved distribution issues, stretching supplies in the short term still won’t protect all the vulnerable and still won’t negate the need for measures such as masks/distancing to decrease community transmission.
We should not snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Let’s stick to the schedules that are supported by data. Vaccines are long-term solutions, not quick fixes. Let’s keep our eyes on the prize and think about how we end the pandemic for good, not for some, for now.
