Editorial: Side-effects

There is a standard monitoring procedure in the protocol for preparing a new vaccine before it hits the market.

Pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca which is working with Oxford University decided to suspend clinical trials on the new Covid-19 vaccine that it is preparing and that everyone is eagerly awaiting when one participant in the trial was afflicted with an as yet inexplicable disease.

Normally that should be received as good news.

Those alarmed over the possible side-effects of a vaccine that has not been sufficiently tested and those who believe quality will be sacrificed for the sake of speed can see in practice that the trials are being conducted as they should be.

The suspension of the trial may last only a few days, but since the start of this pandemic no one has been able to predict the future.

The mere possibility that an unknown disease may be linked to the vaccine, which in turn could lead to a definitive halt of these specific trials, led to a decline in the value of the company’s stock globally.

This is not simply a business issue. From the US presidential and congressional elections to PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ forthcoming announcements at the Thessaloniki Forum everyone is taking public health issues into account.

If the vaccine is delayed everything else is delayed and that impacts on all political forces and planning.

The government and main opposition Syriza often clash over the state of the economy and the changes wrought by the pandemic in Greek society.

In the coming days as party leaders prepare to unveil their programmes in Thessaloniki this skirmish will intensify.

The heightened concerns about this situation cannot be swept under the rug. The government cannot accurately plan until a way to confront the new coronavirus is found.

The reactions to delays in preparing the vaccine highlight the fluidity of the current situation.

This time politics is determined by science.