Clarifying and Countering the Misuse of One of Our Articles on Vaccine Development, Testing, and Regulation

In recent weeks, we have received many reports from concerned readers that anti-vaccine organizations and anti-vaccine people are sharing an article on our main site. The article (“”) was last updated in 2018, and includes information on how long it takes for vaccines to go from conception to market. Anti-vaccine activists have used that article to say things like, "See? The COVID-19 vaccines must not be safe, because they were created in less than a year." As is the case with so many anti-vaccine talking points, the statements accompanying the link to the article are misleading or lack context.

Building A Successful Product

Let us begin with an example. Let's say I want to open a large restaurant and feed thousands of people a day. The traditional approach would be to go to culinary school, or apprentice with someone who knows how to cook and prepare food. I would also learn what it takes to run a restaurant. Then, I would work on the food I want to sell. I would try and create my own recipes or make other recipes better. As you can imagine, this all would take time.

Next, I would test my food with a few people to see if they like it. I would buy a few ingredients and use them for the food. No sense in buying enough ingredients to feed thousands if the few people might not like it. Once I find a recipe that people will like, I start scaling up, looking for a place to lease for the restaurant, or maybe starting with a food truck first. Little by little, I work my way to the vision of the large restaurant.

I do things this way primarily because of finances. The monetary losses would be huge if I were to lease or buy a large building, hire dozens of people, buy tons of food, and then have a recipe that people do not like. This slow and methodical process assures me that I don't go through my entire budget before finding out that my product will not work. This is where things might change if an angel investor comes in during an emergent need for food.

An Emergent Threat and an Angel Investor

This is what happened with the vaccines against the novel coronavirus (SARS CoV-2) causing the COVID-19 pandemic. . In 2009, the world was lucky that the H1N1 influenza virus -- while infectious -- was not as deadly as influenza viruses. The novel coronavirus has proven deadlier and more infectious than the H1N1 influenza virus from 2009. Also, in 2009, we already had influenza vaccines and medical countermeasures to deal with the threat. The most important part of the 2009 pandemic was that there was plenty of knowledge about influenza viruses… Not so for coronaviruses.

The novel coronavirus has delivered one surprise after another to scientists and public health experts. It was not expected to be as deadly. It was not expected to be as aerosolized. It was once believed to be easily infectious through contact with inanimate objects (fomites). Cloth masks alone were thought to be enough, because they prevented the seasonal influenza wave we usually experience, but we now need N95 or KN95 masks to deal with the variants. It is because of this sudden and global emergency with a virus that continues to elude countermeasures that a vaccine was quickly needed.

To fill that need, the United States government came in as an angel investor through Operation Warp Speed from the Trump Administration. The Administration basically told vaccine researchers the government would front the cost of taking a gamble and preparing everything concurrently instead of subsequently. In the example above, I would have money to train people to run the restaurant, lease or buy the building for the restaurant, hire established chefs to try different recipes simultaneously in many people, and get all the paperwork done to open and serve food… All simultaneously, instead of one step at a time.

Everything At Once Instead of One Step At a Time

The reason why we saw three successful vaccine candidates between the beginning of the pandemic and December of 2020 is that were taken simultaneously to ensure a vaccine worked, was safe, and was effective. While all the studies were being done on the right formula, right dose, and safety, factories were creating vaccines in those different formulations. Those that did not work would be thrown out at a loss covered by the government. If a company did that without the funding available in Warp Speed, the losses would be enough to send the company into bankruptcy, because they would throw out a product that did not work, even if they eventually get to a product that does.

The Main Points

The main thing to know about how the COVID-19 vaccines came to be are several. First, the technology for the mRNA vaccines dates back to the 1990s, with several breakthroughs happening since to allow the vaccines to come to fruition today. The steps toward the authorization of the vaccines were , just done together instead of one after another. And the funding for creating these vaccines was tremendous compared to the funding available for other vaccines, many of which do not reach the market. Finally, the number of people looking into the safety and effectiveness of these and all vaccines is in the millions. From people working at all levels of government in public health, to academics doing research in many institutions around the world, and even the people working at pharmaceutical companies.

Vaccines work when they are approved for use by regulators, and whose safety and effectiveness is backed up by science and peer-reviewed evidence. Vaccines save lives.