Decoding the Moment: New Rules for Vaccine Approvals

Decoding the Moment kicks off with a virtual seminar on Friday, May 16 focused on the changes to the vaccine approval processes that were announced this week by the Trump administration requiring that all “new” vaccines be tested against a placebo, which HHS described as a “radical departure from past practices.” Public health experts say the change raises timing, ethics, and cost issues and could affect this year’s COVID-19 vaccine updates. The discussion will tackle what is proposed and why, what it could mean for vaccine availability, public confidence, and disease spread.

Read the event recap or watch the event recording below. 

Speaker Info:

• Paul Offit, MD, Director of the Vaccine Education Center and professor of pediatrics in the Division of Infectious Diseases at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
• Alison Buttenheim, PhD, MBA, Professor of Family and Community Health at Penn Nursing and of Medical Ethics and Health Policy at the Perelman School of Medicine; Scientific Director of the Center for Health Incentives and Behavioral Economics at the University of Pennsylvania
• Dan Gorenstein, Founder and Executive Editor, Tradeoffs

About the Decoding the Moment series

The Trump administration’s sweeping efforts to reshape federal health policy have created a fast-moving, uncertain landscape for the health care sector and policymakers. In response, Tradeoffs and Penn LDI launched the virtual event series, Decoding the Moment, to provide timely, evidence-based discussions on key federal policy changes. Through conversations with leading experts, this series explores the implications of recent actions and what they signal for the future.