Regulatory requirements for the secondary use of personal data and biological materials apply equally during pandemics unless an explicit exception has been enacted.

During pandemics, it might be tempting to accelerate research by ignoring existing ethics requirements, especially when it comes to the secondary use of personal data or samples. The interview clip recalls discussions in South Korea. The government had suggested that, for biological materials from COVID-19 patients, the need for informed consent and ethics review approval should be dropped. The anticipated legislation was abandoned due to major interventions from human rights groups and others.