FDA reform is working to provide a timely COVID-19 vaccine. These reforms will benefit Americans after the pandemic.

Jul 29, 2020 by AFP

It takes 15 to 20 years on average to produce a vaccine, says Dr. Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children’s Hospital in Philadelphia, in a new video for Americans for Prosperity’s Health Care Reimagined campaign. In part, that long development process is a symptom of the red tape that has hurt the ability of the Food and Drug Administration to quickly and effectively vet medical treatments.

“There’s an understanding that maybe the processes that we’ve been following for the past 50 years are outdated. Maybe they’re too slow,” says Christina Sandefur, executive vice president of the Goldwater Institute.

That’s why the Trump administration directed the FDA to eliminate its outdated rules and overly bureaucratic review procedures. Now, researchers are looking to create a vaccine for COVID-19 within one to one and a half years, with the help of more than 70 companies and the use of more than 100 different vaccine strategies.

FDA reform is working during the COVID-19 pandemic. America may see a very different FDA coming out of this crisis, one that prioritizes results over bureaucratic gridlock.

Join the Health Care Reimagined campaign to learn more about the barriers to better care, including COVID-19 testing kits, health care rules, medical licensing, scope-of-practice regulations, and telemedicine regulations.