Development of COVID-19 Treatments and Vaccines

Abstract

AbstractChapter 11, ‘Development of COVID-19 Treatments and Vaccines’, examines some domestic and international laws, regulations, and policies that have been relevant to research undertaken to develop treatments to cure or reduce the severity of symptoms of COVID-19, and vaccines to prevent people contracting and suffering or dying from it. The chapter considers the role played by the World Health Organization in co-ordinating, accelerating, and overseeing international collaboration between researchers working on treatments and vaccines to address the risks to global health posed by COVID-19. This chapter explores the risks for individual and public health of strategies scientists have adopted to hasten their COVID-19 research. It reviews the use of human challenge trials. The chapter addresses challenges involved in ensuring the safety and efficacy of COVID-19 treatments and vaccines for all. The challenges include enrolling diverse participants in clinical trials, obtaining their informed consent to participation, and protecting those who are unable to consent, but whose involvement in such trials is important. This chapter discusses the balance that has been struck between the imperatives to maintain the scientific and scholarly integrity and rigour of research, and to undertake and publish results of studies concerning treatments and vaccines as quickly as possible in order to tackle the risks posed by COVID-19.