Ethical Issues Relating to COVID-19 Vaccine Research and Development

There is a need to carefully evaluate ethical aspects of the speed of vaccine research and how this relates to protection of research subjects.

Educational Objectives

Educational Aim:
The aim of this article is to provide information on ethical issues in COVID‐19 vaccine research and development that every stakeholder needs to consider.

Editor's comments:
It is critical that developing countries are involved in clinical trials because of the importance to test vaccines in different populations. It is challenging that clinical trials are being conducted in the middle of a pandemic. It means that countries have to deal with managing a public health emergency while simultaneously setting aside resources to do research.
We need to keep a balance between saving lives and doing research. In a pandemic, the priority is to save lives and therefore treatment, prevention and research innovation are all important factors in stemming the impact of the infectious agent. Researchers should conduct trials following established legal, ethical and regulatory procedures governing conduct of trials. These include, but are not limited to, obtaining clearance from the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority and institutional Human Research Ethics Committees..

Educational Outcomes:
Upon completion of this module practitioners should have a better understanding of the urgency of providing an effective COVID‐19 vaccine for humanity balanced with research ethics that must be maintained to protect all participating subjects.

Instructions for this Module

• Read the supplied reading material and complete the quiz that follows;
• You have three attempts to pass the quiz;
• The pass grade is 70%;
• You need to pass the quiz to claim your CPD certificate;
• Please click on the CPD certificate link below to claim your CPD certificate and to update your CPD Manager.

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