The race to develop effective treatments for emerging infectious diseases has placed scientists (0) UNDER immense pressure to deliver results at unprecedented speed. The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated just how rapidly new vaccines can be developed 1 sufficient resources are made available. In normal circumstances, it takes approximately ten years to bring a vaccine from initial research to public distribution, yet during the pandemic this was achieved in little 2 than a year. Remarkable 3 this accomplishment was, it came at a cost. The accelerated timeline meant that certain long-term safety studies could not be completed 4 the vaccines were authorised for emergency use. Critics were quick to seize 5 this fact, arguing that corners had been cut. Defenders of the process, on the other hand, pointed out that 6 single stage of testing had been skipped — the stages had simply been conducted in parallel rather than sequentially. The debate highlighted a broader tension in scientific research: that 7 thoroughness and urgency, the public expects both, and reconciling these competing demands is far 8 straightforward.