Quantifying ethical tradeoffs for vaccine efficacy trials during severe epidemics

Abstract Background During emerging epidemics of highly fatal diseases, rapid development and testing of new vaccines may be critical to curbing transmission and saving lives. However, the design of vaccine efficacy trials in such contexts may face considerable logistical, epidemiological, or ethical impediments. Three different vaccine efficacy trials were conducted during the 2014-2016 Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa, each with different …