COVID urgency shdn't spell vaccine haste-bioethics panel

(ANSA) - ROME, DEC 1 - The urgency of the COVID emergency should not result in haste in testing vaccines for the virus, Italy's bioethics panel (CNB) said Tuesday.
    The need for speed "must not lead to cutting the time for testing, indispensable on the scientific, bioethical and biojuridical level," to ensure quality and protection for participants", it said.
    The panel recommended that vaccines be compulsory for the professional groups most exposed to infection and transmission.
    It also called for transparency in information on vaccines.
    What is needed, it said, is "transparent, clear, understandable, consistent and coherent information and communication, based on constantly updated scientific data".
    Sources of disinformation and false information should be identified and exposed, the CNB said.
    Health Minister Roberto Speranza is set to present the Italian government's COVID vaccine plan on Wednesday.
    There are at least three vaccines that are showing great promise in final trials including one, Oxford University-AstraZeneca's, involving Italian firms IRBM and Catalent.
    Speranza said "The purchase of the vaccine will be centralized, I have very great faith in the regulatory agencies set up to ensure its safety but we'll still have to resist a few months, then a new phase will be opened; we can't afford a third wave at the start of 2021.
    The COVID vaccine being developed by Oxford University for drug multinational Astrazeneca and which will be delivered by, among others, Italy's IRBM and Catalent, has been shown to be up to 90% effective in phase three clinical trials.. (ANSA).