This Thursday, the advisory panel of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) evaluates the recommendation for an emergency authorization to be issued for the covid-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNtech.
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This could be the last step before approval of that vaccine in the United States, so that it can then quickly begin to be distributed.
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During the public comment section of the FDA’s advisory committee meeting on the vaccine, Peter Lurie, president of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, said that he believed the vaccine had demonstrated a “surprising degree of efficacy” and that ” there is no evidence of a major safety signal. “
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However, he noted minor side effects, such as injection site pain, fatigue, headaches in most patients, and chills in nearly a third of people.
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Lurie said those shouldn’t get in the way of clearance, but rather should be addressed. “I think the rates of these events are high enough to warrant an open and impartial discussion with patients,” he was quoted as saying by The Washington Post.
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It would be “immoral” not to approve
Furthermore, during the FDA advisory committee meeting to the public, a participant in the clinical trial at New York University, Evan Fein, called for immediate authorization of the Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine.
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Fein, who participated in trials with placebos during the summer, said he was sure he received the immunization because he felt side effects such as fatigue, fever and muscle aches.
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But he said he had not experienced long-term side effects and said it would be “unethical and unethical” not to authorize the vaccine.
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