Ethical Issues Involving the Development of COVID-19 Vaccines: Role of Vaccine Development, Clinical Trials, and Speed of Peer Review in Dissuading Public Vaccine Hesitancy

ABSTRACT

Over 60% of the population in the United States received the SARS-Co-V type 2 messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccine, manufactured by Pfizer-BioNTech and by Moderna. The pace at which these mRNA vaccines have been developed may be alarming to the public when compared with timelines for the development of traditional vaccines for other diseases, eliciting issues of mistrust. Ethical issues arise regarding the pace of vaccine development and have been described and highlighted by the media. In addition, testing and validation of basic science and clinical findings, combined with potential side effects of the mRNA vaccines have contributed to public mistrust of this particular vaccine platform. Here, we focus on the current ethical concerns involved with vaccine development, identify the ethical concerns that mitigate the role of public vaccine hesitancy and efforts to minimize the role of such issues, and address some of the scientific concerns cited by the public in their hesitancy to obtain the mRNA vaccine. Copyright © 2021 by Begell House, Inc.