Dr. Paul Offit

I think if the government had completely paid for everything and taken the risk out of it for all the companies, it would have been a lot faster.

The medical definition of safety for me is that the benefits have to clearly and definitively outweigh the risks. And I think what we found was that for the mRNA vaccines, that was clearly true. I think what we found with the vaccine, the Johnson & Johnson vector virus vaccine, was that wasn't true. And even though that side effect of clotting occurred in roughly one per 200,000 people,

The medical definition of safety for me is that the benefits have to clearly and definitively outweigh the risks. And I think what we found was that for the mRNA vaccines, that was clearly true. I think what we found with the vaccine, the Johnson & Johnson vector virus vaccine, was that wasn't true. And even though that side effect of clotting occurred in roughly one per 200,000 people,

The medical definition of safety for me is that the benefits have to clearly and definitively outweigh the risks. And I think what we found was that for the mRNA vaccines, that was clearly true. I think what we found with the vaccine, the Johnson & Johnson vector virus vaccine, was that wasn't true. And even though that side effect of clotting occurred in roughly one per 200,000 people,

that still was not okay. But the main reason that wasn't okay was we had another option. Yeah, we had another option. I mean, it's the same, you can make the same parallel for the polio vaccine. I mean, the Jonas Salk's vaccine was introduced in 1955, the take the virus, grow it up, kill it with formaldehyde. And that vaccine was used into the early 1960s.

that still was not okay. But the main reason that wasn't okay was we had another option. Yeah, we had another option. I mean, it's the same, you can make the same parallel for the polio vaccine. I mean, the Jonas Salk's vaccine was introduced in 1955, the take the virus, grow it up, kill it with formaldehyde. And that vaccine was used into the early 1960s.

that still was not okay. But the main reason that wasn't okay was we had another option. Yeah, we had another option. I mean, it's the same, you can make the same parallel for the polio vaccine. I mean, the Jonas Salk's vaccine was introduced in 1955, the take the virus, grow it up, kill it with formaldehyde. And that vaccine was used into the early 1960s.

And then we used the Albert Sabin vaccine, the live attenuated oral polio vaccine, which had a problem. The problem's rare. but it was real, which is one per 2.4 million doses were complicated by polio. I mean, that virus was not weakened, attenuated for growth in the intestine. It was attenuated for growth in the nervous system. So therefore it can continue to reproduce itself.

And then we used the Albert Sabin vaccine, the live attenuated oral polio vaccine, which had a problem. The problem's rare. but it was real, which is one per 2.4 million doses were complicated by polio. I mean, that virus was not weakened, attenuated for growth in the intestine. It was attenuated for growth in the nervous system. So therefore it can continue to reproduce itself.

And then we used the Albert Sabin vaccine, the live attenuated oral polio vaccine, which had a problem. The problem's rare. but it was real, which is one per 2.4 million doses were complicated by polio. I mean, that virus was not weakened, attenuated for growth in the intestine. It was attenuated for growth in the nervous system. So therefore it can continue to reproduce itself.

And as it turns, it's a single stranded RNA virus. So it can have mutations that ultimately revert back to Neuro virulent virus, wild type virus, paralytic virus. And so one out of every 2.4 million people who were inoculated with that vaccine and some people who came in contact with them would get be paralyzed by the polio vaccine.

And as it turns, it's a single stranded RNA virus. So it can have mutations that ultimately revert back to Neuro virulent virus, wild type virus, paralytic virus. And so one out of every 2.4 million people who were inoculated with that vaccine and some people who came in contact with them would get be paralyzed by the polio vaccine.

And as it turns, it's a single stranded RNA virus. So it can have mutations that ultimately revert back to Neuro virulent virus, wild type virus, paralytic virus. And so one out of every 2.4 million people who were inoculated with that vaccine and some people who came in contact with them would get be paralyzed by the polio vaccine.

So we eliminated polio with that vaccine, the real polio vaccine by 1979. And then for two decades, the 1980s and the 1990s, we continue to give that vaccine. And the only cases of polio in this country were caused by the polio vaccine. Seven to 10 children every year were paralyzed by that vaccine. That was unconscionable given that we had another vaccine.

So we eliminated polio with that vaccine, the real polio vaccine by 1979. And then for two decades, the 1980s and the 1990s, we continue to give that vaccine. And the only cases of polio in this country were caused by the polio vaccine. Seven to 10 children every year were paralyzed by that vaccine. That was unconscionable given that we had another vaccine.

So we eliminated polio with that vaccine, the real polio vaccine by 1979. And then for two decades, the 1980s and the 1990s, we continue to give that vaccine. And the only cases of polio in this country were caused by the polio vaccine. Seven to 10 children every year were paralyzed by that vaccine. That was unconscionable given that we had another vaccine.

We had the inactivated vaccine, which Scandinavian countries had always used and eliminated polio from their country without ever using the oral polio vaccine. And so I came onto the advisory committee for immunization practices. That's a CDC advisory committee. Now I'm on an FDA vaccine advisory committee.

We had the inactivated vaccine, which Scandinavian countries had always used and eliminated polio from their country without ever using the oral polio vaccine. And so I came onto the advisory committee for immunization practices. That's a CDC advisory committee. Now I'm on an FDA vaccine advisory committee.

We had the inactivated vaccine, which Scandinavian countries had always used and eliminated polio from their country without ever using the oral polio vaccine. And so I came onto the advisory committee for immunization practices. That's a CDC advisory committee. Now I'm on an FDA vaccine advisory committee.

But when I came onto that committee, I asked the head of the group, the ACIP, if I could be head of the polio working group, because I wanted to get us away from that vaccine. because it was unconscionable. I just couldn't stand that we had another alternative.