The Science of Us : Stephen S. Hall

What If They Make a Vaccine and Nobody Takes It? There are already clear signs that the public is suspicious about corners being cut.

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WITH THE CORONAVIRUS vaccine hurtling toward its public debut as early as late fall, the United States is about to enter a new and precarious phase of the pandemic response. Regardless of when a vaccine becomes available, the rollout is almost destined to be messy for logistical reasons, as public-health officials must ready a massive campaign to convince 330 million citizens to take it. But after months of misinformation and disingenuous optimism from the White House—underlined by revelations that President Trump knew all along that the coronavirus is deadly—will anyone trust the administration’s assurances about the new vaccine’s safety?

There are already clear signs that the public is suspicious about the rigor with which a vaccine will have been assessed before its release, and experts are increasingly concerned that conflicting information about who should be immunized, and when, will further erode public confidence. A recent CBS News poll indicated that only 21 percent of Americans would be inclined to take a COVID-19 vaccine as soon as possible, while 62 percent expressed concern that the Trump administration is pressuring the Food and Drug Administration to relax safety and efficacy standards to rush out a vaccine, according to a survey conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation.