William Petri

via Unsplash

There are now two COVID-19 vaccines that, at least according to preliminary reports, appear to be 94.5% and 95% effective. Both were developed in a record-breaking 11 months or so.

I am an infectious diseases specialist and professor at the University of Virginia. I care for patients with COVID-19 and am conducting the local site for a phase 3 clinical trial of Regeneron's antibody cocktail as a tool to prevent household transmission of COVID-19. I'm also conducting research on how dysregulation of the immune system during SARS-CoV-2 infection causes lung damage.

Despite the vaccines' relatively rapid development, the normal safety testing protocols are still in place.

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