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Safe and effective vaccines, available to all

COVID-19 vaccines must be safe, efficacious and accessible to everyone, urge members of the international organization InterAcademy Partnership (IAP). IAP, of which the Polish Academy of Sciences is a member, has published a position on the ongoing research for COVID-19 vaccine and vaccine distribution.

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Authors of the latest IAP communiqué on the development and distribution of vaccines against COVID-19 stress that development of vaccine is essential to control and prevent future outbreaks of COVID-19. While public health tools such as social distancing, wearing of masks, proper hand hygiene and mass testing help prevent the spread of the current pandemic, they will not stop it. According to scientists, only the vaccine can get us back to semblance of normal.

Safety above all

Currently, the works on developing a vaccine is well advanced. According to WHO, as of September 3, 2020, there are 34 candidate vaccines in clinical evaluation and an additional 142 in the preclinical evaluation. Despite the pessimistic scenarios for the development of a pandemic, especially in the countries of the Northern Hemisphere, no shortcuts can be taken. "The phases of clinical vaccine trials must go forward with appropriate scientific rigor, and the deliberate steps needed to demonstrate safety and efficacy, " emphasizes Volker ter Meulen, distinguished virologist, IAP President. Scientists emphasize that every successful COVID-19 vaccine must be made available to all, including the world’s most vulnerable and impoverished people.

The IAP's position paper on the development and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines was officially announced at the biennial EuroScience Open Forum (ESOF), a pan-European scientific conference on research and innovation. The 2020 Forum was held from September 2 to 6 in Trieste, Italy. IAP is a global network of 140 academies whose members constitute more than 30,000 top scientists, engineers and healthcare professionals in over 100 countries.

Full text of the IAP Communiqué on the Development and Distribution of Vaccines against COVID-19