From the desk of Dr. Gupta

Covering the story of the coronavirus has been challenging for many reasons. But one of them isn’t talked about often and it needs more discussion.

It has become evident that both the research cycle and the news cycle have accelerated to levels never seen before. We hear new information every day, even every hour. We hear news of vaccines and promising therapeutics. We hear about best practices and studies. Finding ways to stall or stop the spread of this disease is so imperative, it’s easy to get excited about any news. 

I’ve heard so much optimism about a vaccine and how the process is moving faster than ever before that I wanted to step back and look into the source of this optimism. I was surprised at how thin the available data is in peer-reviewed medical journals.

Truth is, most of what we have seen so far has come in the form of press releases or pre-print reports that have not undergone the scientific scrutiny of independent review. In fact, despite all the enthusiasm around vaccines, there is only one published study of a vaccine trialed in humans.

There’s no doubt that speed is of the essence as we race to beat this virus. But there are also concerns among scientists and journalists that the studies offered up and showcased are not ready for "prime time." In fact, many aren’t studies at all, but subjective conclusions based on data, and methods that remain hidden -- and difficult to validate. 

Never before has full and immediate transparency been so important, and as of now, the scientific picture around Covid-19 remains opaque.