UPMC’s trial of the Moderna/NIH vaccine and other potential COVID-19 vaccines will take place at the same time as similar trials nationwide. If vaccines show safety and effectiveness over several months, it’s possible they will be approved for widespread manufacture and distribution. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) monitors vaccine trials, studying the vaccines for safety and effectiveness. If a vaccine is safe, promotes immune response, and is effective, the FDA will approve it for wide use. Vaccines are not approved unless their benefits outweigh the risks. “We think it is absolutely essential that COVID-19 vaccines are safe,” Dr. Dermody says. “These vaccines will be used in people who are healthy, they have no health problems, they’re well. We’re trying to prevent disease in these folks. We’re certainly not trying to cause any kinds of symptoms in these individuals, so vaccines need to be safe.” Vaccines are safe, effective against disease, and have been used for more than 200 years to eradicate diseases worldwide. The World Health Organization estimates vaccines save the lives of between 2 million and 3 million people each year. In the 1950s, Jonas Salk, a doctor working at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, developed the first vaccine against the polio virus in the United States. His research helped to eradicate polio. It is hoped that a COVID-19 vaccine can help stop the ongoing pandemic worldwide. “We need to put COVID-19 in the rear view mirror, and the way we’re going to do it is with a vaccine,” Dr. Dermody says. For more information on the Vaccine Trial Unit Registry, visit UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh online.