Perils of promoting an anti-vaccination scare

Two recent controversies featuring Covid-19 vaccines extensively employed in India have lessons for scientific research and media reporting. The virus vector vaccine manufactured and marketed by AstraZeneca used the spike protein antigen of SARS CoV-2 virus to stimulate immune response and a chimpanzee adenovirus as the carrier to transport that antigen to human cells. Post-marketing studies of vaccine-related adverse effects are important because clinical trials designed to assess efficacy do not provide large enough sample sizes of vaccine recipients to identify an array of potential adverse effects. Four groups have a duty to report accurately and responsibly on issues of public health importance involving vaccines: Researchers who must design methodologically strong studies, conduct them with scrupulous adherence to protocols and report them with integrity; manufacturers who must truthfully disclose all findings of clinical trial research plus provide alerts from continuing post-marketing surveillance; the government’s science agencies which must provide vigilant oversight of research and public accountability; media which must gain sufficient familiarity with research methodology to distinguish between scientifically strong and frail studies.