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Covid vaccine trials

Bioethics Forum Essay
gloved hands injecting a vaccine into an exposed shoulder

Ethics of Placebo Controls in Coronavirus Vaccine Trials

Multiple candidate vaccines for coronavirus are being evaluated scientifically in a process of unprecedented speed, and thousands of individuals around the world have volunteered to participate in placebo-controlled phase III field trials. If, or when, one of these candidate vaccines is proved to be safe and effective and receives an emergency use authorization by the Food and Drug Administration, will it continue to be ethical to enroll participants in other coronavirus trials that randomize half of them to a placebo?
Read Ethics of Placebo Controls in Coronavirus Vaccine Trials
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