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The federal government is spending millions to accelerate the production of a coronavirus vaccine. Though the rushed process may produce an ineffective vaccine, the benefits of mandating the vaccine outweigh the potential risks.

In July, the federal government announced it will invest over $2 billion in grants to companies that are trying to manufacture a vaccine or treatment for COVID-19. The grants went to companies such as Regeneron, which has had success in developing treatment drugs for Ebola, and Novavax, which has tried to produce many vaccines but has failed at getting the Food and Drug Administration’s approval for any.

The government is investing so much money into these companies so that, when one of these manufacturers develops a vaccine that the FDA approves, it doesn’t have to wait months for mass quantities of the vaccines to be produced. The government even wants mass quantities to be produced and has committed to buying them even before knowing the vaccines are effective, which is a risky strategy. 

The rushed process for vaccine development, testing and approval has many Americans worried. But most of the vaccines that these companies are producing are completely harmless, showing your immune system something that looks like the virus to prepare your body to fight the actual thing. 

The vaccines being developed are also modeled after knowledge of past vaccines that have been developed and have proven effective. The development and testing processes, although accelerated, are similar to ones implemented in the past for other viruses and are familiar to scientists and doctors.

“Any vaccines that are developed in this shortened timeline will likely be pretty safe because that is one of the main concerns,” said Brittany Kmush, an assistant professor of public health at Syracuse University who specializes in the study of vaccines, global health and infectious diseases. “(Pharmaceutical companies) are doing a good job of evaluating safety and really looking at the short-term safety profiles,” she said.

Though a vaccine for COVID-19 is likely to be very safe, it may not be entirely effective. If a vaccine is rushed but proves ineffective once given to people, or if it’s only effective for a limited amount of time, there are consequences.

If an ineffective vaccine is given to students, and they believe it works, the students put their guards down. If this does happen, people will likely become less cautious about practicing social distancing and wearing masks, which will likely cause another wave of COVID-19 infections and deaths.

However, this negative possibility does not outweigh the pros of mandating a vaccine that may not be entirely effective. If a vaccine does come out and is proven to work, countless lives will be saved. Schools will be able to return to some semblance of normalcy, and COVID-19 will mirror what happens to all deadly viruses once a vaccine or cure is found: the virus will infect fewer people, and the pandemic will tamper off.

“Because a vaccine will not have been around for years or decades, there is no way we can know if there are some kind of very rare, long-term side effects,” Kmush said. “But that’s not very likely because they are using the same technology as they used for other vaccines that have been around for decades.”

Even with a possible vaccine on the way, students still have the responsibility to ensure that they are continuing to follow guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and practice social distancing until a vaccine is proven safe and effective. A new vaccine could be the first step in allowing students a normal college experience in the spring.
Skylar Swart is a sophomore political science major. Her column appears bi-weekly. She can be reached at saswart@syr.edu. She can be followed on Twitter at @SkylarSwart.

Published on September 20, 2020 at 10:34 pm