Edit: note that the NPR piece missed the more important problem. While some people in the placebo group decided to continue the study and not to take the vaccine, blinding was irrecoverably broken, and what is worse, they are self selected, so randomization is gone as well.
That link says that after the FDA authorized the shots, the study participants were offered them. Not that something was skipped _before_ authorization.
Not giving these people the shots would have been immoral, it was already clear that they were effective and safe.
oldgradstudent|2 years ago
I assumed this was well known.
https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2021/02/19/9691430...
Edit: note that the NPR piece missed the more important problem. While some people in the placebo group decided to continue the study and not to take the vaccine, blinding was irrecoverably broken, and what is worse, they are self selected, so randomization is gone as well.
kadoban|2 years ago
Not giving these people the shots would have been immoral, it was already clear that they were effective and safe.