COVID-19 Vaccines – A Rapid Rollout Years in the Making
The speed at which effective vaccines against COVID-19 were developed is unprecedented in the history of medicine. Less than a year after the World Health Organization declared the spread of the novel coronavirus a pandemic, researchers had developed hundreds of potential vaccines, and several earned widespread approval as both safe and effective for administration under emergency conditions.
Compressing the timeline
By means of comparison, scientists first identified the polio virus in 1908, but it was not until the 1950s that the first inoculations began. The pre-COVID timeline for the development of a vaccine to address a new type of virus often spanned a decade or more. In the 1960s, the development of a mumps vaccine in a mere four years was extraordinary. So, it was the very speed of development of the COVID vaccines that has contributed to disinformation campaigns questioning—without evidence—their safety and reliability.
The long view
The big picture of the development of today’s COVID vaccines shows that the miracle of a year was built on decades of focused, painstaking study and development of innovative methodologies. University and government researchers, as well as pharmaceutical companies like Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna, had already explored similar viruses and similar techniques for delivering vaccines against them.
Long before SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, garnered panic-stricken headlines, researchers had mapped structures, effects, and vulnerabilities of its close genetic relatives, the SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) virus and the MERS (Middle East respiratory syndrome) virus. In addressing SARS-CoV-2, researchers also had access to existing designs for vaccines against flu and other viral infections.
The validation that came quickly
In addition, timelines for clinical trials on the vaccines and their manufacture were able to coincide to some degree without cutting corners on safety. By fall 2020, the virus raged out of control in many parts of the United States and the world. Tragically and ironically, the fact that it had permeated the population to such an extent meant that there was much less of a time lag than usual in getting accurate data on vaccine effectiveness in the decisive trials. That second wave resulted in a de facto living laboratory proving the vaccinated volunteers’ robust immunity.
It’s also important to note that people from a wide demographic participated in the clinical trials, including a substantial number of older adults and people of color. The effectiveness of the vaccines currently approved in the US have thus been shown both safe and effective across most categories of gender, age, and ethnicity.
Putting dollars where they count
Funding also played an outsize part. In 2020 the United States government committed enormous resources to fighting COVID, pledging more than $10 billion to pharmaceutical firm researchers. The unprecedented scale of the global health crisis also spurred drug manufacturers and major philanthropists to raise their own commitments of money and attention. Relieved of pressure to constantly fundraise, researchers were able to concentrate on what they do best: follow the science.