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# Experts Weigh-in on Covid Vaccine Deployment
- URL: https://www.fdaweb.com/experts-weigh-in-on-covid-vaccine-deployment/
- Published: 2020-08-06T12:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-14T16:24:06.000Z
- Author: David McFarland
- Tags: Biologics, #legacy-id-D5147378

More than 250 experts in virology, epidemiology, vaccinology, infectious disease, clinical care, and public health have signed a letter to FDA commissioner **Stephen Hahn** urging that no Covid-19 vaccine be made widely available until FDA has been able to evaluate safety and efficacy data from completed Phase 3 clinical trials. The [letter](https://cspinet.org/sites/default/files/COVID%5FVaccine%5FLetter%5Fto%5FFDA%5F8.5.2020.pdf?ref=fdaweb.com) says the FDA review “must be as thorough as has been the case for previous vaccine candidates. As transparency will be critical for fostering public confidence and maximizing vaccine use, the open meetings of FDA’s Vaccines and Related Biologics Product Approval Committee must be an essential part of the authorization and approval process.”

While praising the productive collaboration between scientists, the drug industry, and the federal government that may bring creation of a vaccine within a year after the pandemic virus was first identified, the scientists caution that an effective vaccine will only be useful if a large proportion of the public is willing to take it.

“Surveys have consistently shown that a significant fraction of Americans, from across the political spectrum, is reluctant to accept a Covid-19 vaccine,” the letter says. “Some long-standing concerns about vaccine safety in general have no scientific foundation. However, more than 60% of U.S. voters prefer that a Covid-19 vaccine be thoroughly evaluated before it is made available, even if doing so delays its roll-out. A particular concern applies to communities of color, where historical medical inequities are also likely to reduce vaccine uptake. Actively involving these and other communities that are at high risk of severe Covid-19 disease is essential to curtailing the pandemic. Similar considerations apply to vaccine distribution, which must not be determined by either an ability to pay or social influence.”