Last week, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine entered its next phase of its Research & Development life: Phase 3 trials. Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine joins Moderna and Pfizer as well as several other vaccine candidates worldwide in taking the next step to help mitigate the COVID-19 pandemic — testing their product on thousands of healthy volunteers.
However, as pharmaceutical companies continue to spit out promising candidates for a safe and effective vaccine, experts are urging them to wait for more data on the safety of the vaccine before proceeding to seek FDA authorization. Their sentiments are echoed at Free the Vaccine for COVID-19, where our work revolves around vaccines, diagnostic tools, and treatments that have been proven to be safe and effective. You can read more about the 60 leading bioethicists and researchers who are urging Pfizer to hold off until November on seeking FDA approval here.