> If these weren't done for the COVID vaccine specifically, but some other vaccine, couldn't you still put some rough ballpark quantitative guesses on the COVID

> If these weren't done for the COVID vaccine specifically, but some other vaccine, couldn't you still put some rough ballpark quantitative guesses on the COVID vaccine to help guide public policy better than "shrug, we have no clue what will happen if you do anything other than 21 days"? You definitely could (and this is exactly what many people are trying to do!) But this approach relies on many assumptions, and the FDA is hesitant to let assumptions (no matter how well-grounded) enter into its evaluations. Thus its near exclusive reliance on RCTs. This is mostly reasonable, but it causes confusion amongst people who don't understand evidentiary standards. Thus all the braying about "no data" or "no evidence."