VIDEO-Why a University of Michigan professor voted ‘No’ on Pfizer’s COVID vaccine

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Virologist says 2 more months of research would answer questions

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – The University of Michigan’s Dr. A. Oveta Fuller specializes in immunology and microbiology.

The FDA advisory committee that recommended the Pfizer vaccine largely agreed it was safe and effective. 17 members voted for it and four voted against it.

One of those No votes came from Oveta, a virologist and viral pathogen researcher. She said she was concerned about the vaccine’s long-term impact.

“Because we are in a COVID pandemic and because so many lives are affected and because the public needs to understand so they know what to do,” Oveta said. “I felt like this is a lot. A heavy responsibility. It is very sobering and that’s how I take it.”

It’s not a lack of confidence in the research, it’s that she believes some specific questions about the risks did not get answered. She said more data would be help her be certain that she has done her due diligence.

As a researcher and an expert in how viruses behave, she still had questions on the table in terms autoimmunity and hyper immunity. She just wanted a bit more research to answer a few more questions before creating a full path to wide acceptance by the masses.

“I am a great advocate for vaccines. I’m a virologist by training, I think viruses are amazing. I teach them. I study them. I engage the community about them,” Oveta said. “I think vaccines are a major way that we can stop or prevent infections but ‘a stitch in time saves nine.’”

She said it would be better to release the vaccine gradually instead of going almost directly from the study to being given to millions of people.

RELATED: Michigan officials: COVID vaccine to be distributed in 4 phases, prioritize frontline workers

Oveta said she believes just two more months of controlled studies would answer some of those specific questions.

You can watch the full interview with Dr. A. Oveta Fuller in the video below.

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Grant Hermes

Grant comes to Local 4 from Oklahoma City. He joins the news team as co-anchor of Local 4 News Today weekend mornings and is a general assignment reporter.

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Dane is a producer and media enthusiast. He previously worked freelance video production and writing jobs in Michigan, Georgia and Massachusetts. Dane graduated from the Specs Howard School of Media Arts.