Will covid-19 vaccines save lives? Current trials aren’t designed to tell us
Open accessAbstract
The world has bet the farm on vaccines as the solution to the pandemic, but the trials are not focused on answering the questions many might assume they are. Peter Doshi reports
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The mRNA vaccine clinical trials were not designed to detect a reduction in any serious outcome such as hospital admissions, use of intensive care, or deaths.
“nor were the trials “designed to detect a reduction in any serious outcome such as hospital admissions, use of intensive care, or deaths” [34].”
From Relative risk reduction: Misinformative measure in clinical trials and COVID-19 vaccine efficacy (2022) · cites this paper as [34]
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COVID-19 vaccine trial ethics once we have efficacious vaccines
Wendler, D., Ochoa, J., Millum, J., Grady, C., & Taylor, H. A. (2020) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.abf5084 · Cited by 50 · see citing works
Relative risk reduction: Misinformative measure in clinical trials and COVID-19 vaccine efficacy
Brown, R. B. (2022) · Dialogues in Health · doi:10.1016/j.dialog.2022.100074 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
- Authors
- Doshi, P.
- Affiliations
- BMJ Group (United Kingdom) (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Doshi, Peter
- ORCID
- Doshi, Peter
- Venue
- BMJ
- Publisher
- BMJ
- Published
- 2020-10-21
- Volume
- 371
- Pages
- m4037
- ISSN
- 1756-1833 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W3094125157
- Cited by
- 150
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 18 · 2024: 12 · 2023: 29 · 2022: 27 · 2021: 52 · 2020: 9
- FWCI
- 3.84
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- BMJ (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- HighWire Press Open Archive (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Infectious Diseases › SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 Research
- Social Sciences › Health › Vaccine Coverage and Hesitancy
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Infectious Diseases › COVID-19 Clinical Research Studies
- Keywords
- COVID-19 vaccines, vaccine clinical trials, trial design, vaccine efficacy, pandemic response, public health policy
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