Vaccines Can be Developed Quickly and Safely
The Claim
Vaccines cannot be developed safely in under a year.
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Emerging story
Representative James Edming said during a March 23, 2021 Wisconsin state assembly that “There may be a vaccination that’s for this, but you can’t tell me they can solve this in eight to 10 months. Or a year. It takes more time than that. There hasn’t even been any animal research on this." Discussion of his claim and similar soon took off on social media.
Misbar’s Analysis
Misbar’s investigation found that all three FDA-approved vaccines have been tested on animals. They did have less animal testing than normal vaccines due to emergency authorization, but the vaccines were tested on animals including mice, rats, hamsters, and monkeys. While it is unclear how well the vaccines work to prevent infection in animals, they were tested on animals for safety.
Vaccines usually do take more time to develop than was spent developing the COVID-19 vaccines. For example, the previously fastest developed vaccine – the mumps vaccine – took four years to develop. However, much of this is due to procedures and regulations, and not because it is impossible to develop a vaccine in under a year. Scientists have researched coronaviruses for years. According to medical experts, global cooperation between scientists and researchers during the pandemic paved the way for fast-tracked vaccine development.
