Why Challenge Trials of SARS‐CoV‐2 Vaccines Could Be Ethical Despite Risk of Severe Adverse Events
Nir Eyal
Abstract
Human challenge trials to test the efficacy of vaccine candidates against SARS-CoV-2, the novel coronavirus behind Covid-19, could save considerable time and many lives. But they may initially seem unethical because they expose healthy volunteers to a live virus that is killing many people and for which no cure exists. This article argues that this is not the correct test of their ethics. The correct test is comparative. And in the special circumstances of the Covid-19 pandemic, human challenge trials meet the correct test better than standard efficacy testing would.
Topics & Concepts
PandemicCoronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)Test (biology)Clinical trial2019-20 coronavirus outbreakAdverse effectCoronavirusMedicineIntensive care medicineVirologyBiologyOutbreakPharmacologyDiseaseInternal medicinePaleontologyInfectious disease (medical specialty)Ethics in medical practiceBiomedical Ethics and RegulationPsychology of Moral and Emotional Judgment