Vaccine development
The scientific community both in the academia and the pharmaceutical companies has shared information on a global scale, and cooperation processes have been accelerated. The investments in the development of the COVID-19 vaccine have been enormous. The results of previous research projects have been analysed and combined.
The introduction of the vaccines has also been accelerated by the fact that the authorities have put a lot of resources in the handling of research data. The data has also been examined in a novel, so-called rolling review process. This means that the vaccine developer companies have been able to provide the authorities with research data for review as soon as it is obtained. Normally, the authorities start to review the data only when all information is complete.
The European Commission has also examined the applications for vaccine marketing authorisations much more rapidly than usual.
Further reading