President Donald Trump has made it clear that he wants the COVID-19 vaccine to be licensed before the November 3 election. It will be an uphill climb, according to pharmaceutical industry executives. Safety and efficacy standards must be met through clinical trials for a coronavirus vaccine to receive emergency use authorization (US), as established by the Food and Drug Administration in planned and issued guidelines recently on Tuesday.
And then there’s another challenge: convincing Americans to get vaccinated once they receive emergency clearance. According to a new CNN poll released Monday, only 51% of those surveyed said they would try to get vaccinated if a low-cost therapy were widely available, while 45% said no.
That’s a drop from August, when 56% said they would try to get vaccinated, and a significant drop from May, when 66% said the same.
It’s unclear what’s driving that trend, though racial, age-related and political demographics appear to play a role. A much greater number of older Americans would try to get vaccinated compared to younger respondents.
The problem with only a 51% participation rate is that it is not a high enough number to achieve herd immunity, where vaccinated people offer protection to the most vulnerable.
One solution may be education and outreach programs promoted by executives, such as Johnson & Johnson CEO Alex Gorsky and Pfizer Biopharmaceutical Division President Angela Hwang (both companies are working on COVID vaccines), recently told the panels hosted by Fortune.
Previous polls also found that 60% of American voters prefer a proven and safe coronavirus vaccine over one that has been rushed to market.
To that end, Tuesday’s new FDA guidance appears to meet that standard by challenging Trump’s insistence on a quick-ready vaccine.
One of the most important elements of those guidelines, and one that would surely delay a vaccine until the last election day, is the follow-up period for trial participants before the FDA even considers an experimental treatment. But, as previous polls show, that’s a move that most Americans consider prudent.
