The COVID-19 vaccines for coronavirus were developed more rapidly than any vaccine in history. John F. Bonamo, M.D., MS, FACOG, FACPE, Executive Vice President and Chief Medical and Quality Officer, RWJBarnabas Health, explains that the science behind the messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines has been in development for about 30 to 40 years. He describes the stringent qualifications and testing the FDA applies before authorizing medications for use.
TRANSCRIPT:
So, as you may know the COVID-19 vaccines for coronavirus were developed more rapidly than probably vaccines for any, anything in history. And what they relied on was much of the science that has been developed in the past 30 or 40 years in developing a messenger RNA vaccine. And they were able to take the genetic material of this virus and apply it to all of that 30 or 40 years of knowledge and actually create an effective COVID-19 vaccine.
But the one thing we can rely on is that no corners were cut because the FDA is very, very stringent about the different steps and the different phases a vaccine needs to go through before it can come to market. And one of those is something called phase 3 trials. In phase 3 trials you need at least 30,000 people to take the vaccine, as well as a placebo group, a group who are getting an injection but they don't have the dose, the active vaccine in it.
And we compare the results of those two groups and the COVID-19 vaccines that are available.
Now one of the COVID-19 vaccines did have 30,000 people in its phase three trial and the other vaccine actually had 44,000 people in its phase 3 trial, so these vaccines went through the same trial as a vaccine that might have taken 10 years to develop.
So, we do not have to worry that because it came to us quickly, that it has not gone through the rigors that it needed to go through you.