There have been many unfair myths about vaccines recently. No one should doubt that vaccines are one of the most useful inventions of the 20th century. Nevertheless, the group of opponents of vaccines is constantly growing. There is so much untrue information circulating about vaccinations that many people can simply be misled. Since not everyone can go to clinical trial training, it is worth explaining what the trial looks like.
Vaccine clinical trials are a process to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of a newly developed vaccine. Due to the fact that it is a medical product, clinical trials are tedious and take a lot of time. Without a clinical trial, a new product cannot be introduced to the market.
You have to be aware that how vaccine clinical trials work is governed by international rules as well as national laws. Every scientist who undertakes this type of work must adhere to certain standards and strictly follow the procedures.
All because clinical trials of vaccines cannot raise any doubts. The results of clinical trials on vaccines must guarantee one-hundred percent of authenticity.
In order for a medication to be introduced to the market, a number of studies have been carried out in cellular and animal models. Vaccine clinical trials consist of four stages, which can take up to several years.
In the first phase of clinical trials, scientists perform an initial safety assessment and describe the pharmacological properties of a given vaccine. During the second phase of the trial, recommended doses are determined, and an initial analysis is carried out to determine its effectiveness. The third phase, which confirms the effectiveness and safety of the vaccine, is the longest one. The last phase of clinical trials, that is, the fourth phase, is carried out after the drug has been registered. It is aimed at long-term confirmation of the effectiveness and safety of use of the newly introduced vaccine.
The first tests, obviously, are carried out in the laboratory. People are not yet involved at this stage. Only when actual clinical trials are conducted the vaccine's effectiveness is confirmed by analyzing the test subjects' blood. The blood is tested to check if there is an immune response to the drug administered. A vaccine is considered to work as intended when antibodies are found in test subjects' blood. Particular phases of vaccine trials differ from each other - for example, in terms of the size of the patient groups.
Overall, vaccine clinical trial is a much more complex process than you might think. One clinical trials training is all it takes to find out that most myths about vaccines are simply a lie.