Will the New Vaccines Be Safe?

Don't we all want to know? UCSF Magazine had me ask experts for a personal take on vaccine safety, encompassing  a variety of perspectives from the university's medical and health schools and research centers. Despite numerous updates that delayed publication as vaccine news changed daily, the story went live in a sweet spot in the news cycle,  just on the cusp of the FDA's Emergency Use Approval for the first U.S. vaccine. 

"Two months [of safety data from a broad population] is not unreasonable for people who have the highest risk of COVID-19 exposure and the lowest risk of adverse vaccine reactions – people who have more to gain from a vaccine – such as primary care providers and first responders. If I were in this group, I would say, “OK, two months will do for me.” 
​But for people at lower risk of contracting COVID-19 – those who can work from home, for example – but at higher risk of medical complications, then I think when to get vaccinated becomes a personal decision. They may want to wait until we accumulate more information from longer follow-up times – perhaps six months from the start of the phase III trials." Read more.

---