Coronavirus Conversations: Emergency Use Authorization, Public Trust, and Vaccines

Co-Hosted with the Duke Center for Innovation Policy, the Duke Global Health Institute, the Duke Human Vaccine Institute, Duke University School of Law, the Georgetown O’Neill Institute for National & Global Health Law, the Harvard Petrie-Flom Center For Bioethics, the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute for Bioethics, the Sabin Vaccine Institute, the Stanford Law School Center for Law and the Biosciences, and the Yale School of Public Health.

Nine months in, the race to create a safe, effective COVID-19 vaccine is beginning to bear fruit.  Several Phase 3 clinical trials are underway, and political pressure is mounting to deliver a vaccine before the end of the year. The only way to meet this deadline would be for the FDA to issue an emergency use authorization (EUA) for one of these vaccines. Observers are concerned, however, that an EUA-authorized vaccine may not be both safe and effective, and worry about the impact of a premature authorization on public trust in the FDA, any COVID vaccine issued this way, and even subsequent COVID vaccines.

Join Duke Science & Society and our esteemed panel of experts, including former FDA Commissioner, Rob Califf, and Founder and Director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute, Eric Topol, for a timely discussion of the suitability of the EUA process for a COVID vaccine, and the safety and efficacy that we can expect from vaccines authorized on an accelerated timeframe.

Panelists:
Dr. Robert M Califf; Former FDA Commissioner (2016-2017), Donald F. Fortin, M.D. Distinguished Professor of Cardiology, Duke University School of Medicine

Dr. Eric Topol; Founder and Director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute and Executive Vice President, Scripps Research Institute

Moderator:
Arti K Rai, J.D.; Elvin R. Latty Professor of Law and Faculty Director, The Center for Innovation Policy at Duke Law

This virtual event series is open to the public. Press covering the coronavirus outbreak are welcome to attend. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook for updates.

Have an idea for a future Coronavirus Conversation ?

Coronavirus Conversations: A virtual event series from Duke Science & Society

The global pandemic affects every corner of society and brings into focus new and existing ethical and policy issues. Over the course of this event series notable scientists, doctors, bioethicists, researchers, and other policy experts will convene to discuss specific themes as they relate to the Coronavirus and how the U.S. and the world continues to respond.