COVID-19 Vaccine Success Depends on Acceptance and Uptake

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The findings to date are very encouraging regarding the development and anticipated release of successful COVID-19 vaccines in the coming months, but public confidence and uptake will be key to their success, the 2020 ESCMID Conference on Coronavirus Disease (ECCVID) heard.

A number of speakers addressed the development of COVID-19 vaccines during the conference.

Mark Mulligan, MD, director of the Division of Infectious Diseases and Immunology at New York University's Langone Health, said the results to date are encouraging when it comes to immune responses and neutralizing antibodies.

"There are over 190 candidates in development, and some 30 or so have entered clinical trials, and a handful have reached stage 3 efficacy trials."

He stressed that the unprecedented speed of development of COVID-19 vaccines does not mean safety is being compromised, which is a key message that needs to be communicated to the public. "Gaining public trust will be key to ensuring successful vaccine uptake. Vaccines don't save lives, vaccinations do."

Mulligan said it is clear that initial demand will far outstrip supply and that countries will have to prioritize who gets the COVID-19 vaccine first, which will likely be healthcare workers and older people, given their susceptibility to the virus.

Meanwhile, in a separate presentation, Pauline Paterson, PhD, MSc, co-director of The Vaccine Confidence Project at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine in England, noted that the level of vaccine hesitancy was already high in many countries before the COVID-19 crisis.

She quoted public surveys asking people if they would take a novel COVID-19 if available, with positive responses varying from 75% from US participants, to 85% in Australia, 62% in France, 75% in Portugal, and 90% from UK parents.

Paterson said key to successful uptake of any COVID-19 vaccine will be reassuring the public about safety, "with transparency, accountability, and timeliness," as well as a willingness to listen to concerns.

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European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases Conference on Coronavirus Disease (ECCVID) 2020: Paterson, 11:30 am session, presented September 24, 2020; and Mulligan, 4:30 pm session, presented September 23, 2020.

This article originally appeared on Univadis, part of the Medscape Professional Network.

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Cite this: Priscilla Lynch. COVID-19 Vaccine Success Depends on Acceptance and Uptake - Medscape - Oct 08, 2020.

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