![\"Vaccine](\"http:\/\/www.tomgrimshaw.com\/tomsblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Vaccine_Production_Line-300x150.jpg\")
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On December 8th 2020, June Raine, Head of the MHRA,\u00a0assured<\/a>\u00a0us all that \u201cno corners have been cut\u201d when the Government gave Temporary Authorisation to the Pfizer Covid vaccine.\u00a0Based on the evidence from another of my FOIs to MHRA, it\u2019s hard to see how that was an honest statement.<\/p>\n Before I go on, a bit of background.\u00a0Most development trials in any sector use a product made using small-scale manufacturing facilities or a lab.\u00a0You don\u2019t want to invest in mass production (new machines and tooling and maybe a new factory) until you\u2019ve got confidence in the design.\u00a0On the other hand, scaling up production creates new risks. It\u2019s a huge subject but to keep it simple just imagine scaling up from making a dozen cup cakes in your kitchen to producing thousands to sell in the shops.\u00a0You\u2019d encounter massive problems obtaining, measuring and mixing the large amounts of ingredients. They might have to come from multiple sources and you\u2019d have to assure yourself they were equivalent.\u00a0Mixing large amounts homogeneously in large vats is harder than in a pudding bowl and cooking them in your kitchen oven.\u00a0You might have to change the actual production process and even add or substitute new ingredients. There\u2019s a high risk that you\u2019ll end up with \u2018different\u2019 cup cakes.\u00a0So unless you compare test results from the first full production batch with the results from the cup cakes you made in your kitchen, you are flying blind.<\/p>\n