Head of US FDA?s advisory group: ?We never expected Covid vaccines to be so good, so effective?

It is very likely that in the "Before Times," few Americans knew that independent experts advised the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on the safety and efficacy of vaccines, and that the FDA usually took their advice.

Less than a year into the Covid-19 pandemic, that quickly changed.

The Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee became arguably the most closely watched group of experts in America's federal government. The media closely followed hearings and thousands of Americans tuned in live to hear whether these scientists considered Covid-19 vaccines safe and effective.

For the chair of that advisory group, Dr Arnold Monto, a professor of epidemiology and global public health at the University of Michigan's school of public health, the last year has been "a revelation".

"It's really difficult to, given the fact we never thought this [pandemic] was going to happen in this way, it's all been a revelation," said Monto. "And the revelation is also how societal beliefs would affect what we are seeing in terms of the continuation of severe disease".

Ultimately, experts and Monto did say vaccines were safe and effective, and the FDA authorized Covid-19 vaccines for emergency use shortly thereafter. More than 237 million Americans have since received a vaccine. Through several more hearings, VRPAC has recommended vaccines to everyone older than five and booster doses to everyone older than 18.

Now, Monto is the author of a recent article in the New England Journal of Medicine, in which he considers the long-term future of the Covid-19 pandemic, and whether scientists can learn from another disease that was once pandemic - influenza.