Adrian Hernandez, MD, MHS, weighed in via STAT News on the recent pauses of three clinical trials that are working to develop a COVID-19 vaccine.
Recent pauses of COVID-19 vaccine trials show that the clinical trials system is working, writes DCRI Executive Director Adrian Hernandez, MD, MHS, in an opinion piece published today by STAT News.
Hernandez authored the piece in response to pauses of three vaccine trials: First AstraZeneca’s study was put on hold in September, and this week, both Johnson & Johnson and the NIH paused trials.
“These pauses show that the system is working,” Hernandez writes. “There is a higher bar for trials testing therapies aimed at prevention of infections that will be given to millions of otherwise healthy people.”
In addition to the safety issue, Hernandez points out that the pandemic has compressed the pace of clinical trials from the normal timeframe of several years to the new normal of several months.
“The clinical trial system was designed to put on the brakes when needed and give the green light when appropriate,” he writes. “That’s what we are seeing with the pauses in COVID-19 trials.”
To read Hernandez’s entire perspective, visit STAT News.