Unnecessary hesitancy on human vaccine tests—Response

Science, vol. 369, pp. 151

Abstract

Eyal contends that the expected social value of controlled human infection studies (CHIs) conducted in an effort to find vaccines and treatment for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) will be high enough to justify the risks to participants. We are concerned that Eyal and others (1) underestimate the uncertainties inherent in making such a determination. CHIs could take too long to be sufficiently valuable or may even hinder vaccine uptake and introduce risks that are not well understood. Because of these uncertainties, our Policy Forum supports laying the groundwork for CHIs but not deploying them to address COVID-19 until there is greater confidence that their value can justify the risks.

Authors 21

1. Seema K. Shah corresponding

   Lurie Children's Hospital

   Affiliation as printed

   Lurie Children's Hospital

2. Franklin G. Miller

   Weill Cornell Medicine

   Affiliation as printed

   Weill Cornell Medicine,

3. Thomas C. Darton

   University of Sheffield

   Affiliation as printed

   University of Sheffield#N#

4. Devan M. Duenas

   Seattle Children's Hospital

   Affiliation as printed

   Seattle Children's Hospital

5. Claudia Emerson

   McMaster University

   Affiliation as printed

   McMaster University

6. Holly Fernandez Lynch

   University of Pennsylvania

   Affiliation as printed

   #N# * University of Pennsylvania

7. Euzebiusz Jamrozik

   Monash University

   Affiliation as printed

   Monash Bioethics Centre

8. Nancy S. Jecker
   Affiliation as printed

   Independent Researcher

9. Dorcas Kamuya

   Kenya Medical Research Institute · Wellcome Trust

   Affiliation as printed

   KEMRI/Wellcome Trust

10. Melissa C. Kapulu

    Kenya Medical Research Institute · Wellcome Trust

    Affiliation as printed

    KEMRI/Wellcome Trust

11. Jonathan Kimmelman

    McGill University

    Affiliation as printed

    McGill University

12. Douglas MacKay

    University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

    Affiliation as printed

    University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

13. Matthew James Memoli

    National Institutes of Health

    Affiliation as printed

    National Institutes of Health UNITED STATES

14. Sean C. Murphy

    University of Washington

    Affiliation as printed

    Univ of Washington, Seattle#TAB#

15. Thomas L. Richie

    Sanaria

    Affiliation as printed

    Sanaria Inc

16. Meta Roestenberg Aachen

    Leiden University

    Affiliation as printed

    Universiteit Leiden (Leiden University)

17. Abha Saxena
    Affiliation as printed

    Independent Researcher

18. Katherine Witte Saylor

    University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

    Affiliation as printed

    University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

19. Michael J. Selgelid

    Monash University

    Affiliation as printed

    Monash Bioethics Centre

20. Vina Ravi Vaswani

    Yenepoya University

    Affiliation as printed

    Yenepoya University

21. Annette Rid

    National Institutes of Health

    Affiliation as printed

    National Institutes of Health UNITED STATES