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Were all the other vaccines "well understood" when they were initially rolled out en masse? Not a rhetorical question, I genuinely don't know the history.

I don't really understand what people's expectations were for a new vaccine intended to combat an ongoing global pandemic.

by kansface16 hours ago|

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Several labs that manufactured the original polio vaccine shipped the live virus - ie, we just injected kids with polio. Low double digits of people (kids?) died, a few hundred were paralyzed, etc. Later vaccines also had the same problem, but at very low rates (1 in millions maybe).

by SideburnsOfDoom6 minutes ago|

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Yes, but it still ended the polio epidemic resulting in a drastic drop in total polio-related deaths.

You don't get vaccines in use for 50 years without vaccines in use for 1 year, and you don't get that without using them for 6 months, and you can say the same about COVID-19 vaccination. Arguing otherwise is just failing to understand linear time.

You should say that COVID-19 vaccination had net very good outcomes too, unless you're a wilfully ignorant conspiracy theorist.

The safety factors of a vaccine become better understood over time and use, and you can say the same etc.

The bar isn't "perfect vaccine", the bar is "significantly better than no vaccine". And this depends on the urgency of the situation.

The only "debacle" is a political/sentiment one. MRNA vaccines are a significant new medical tool, not just for COVID-19.

by gadders19 hours ago|

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I don't think they were developed in less than 6 months, and probably had more testing (and have had far more since).