In three separate announcements in recent weeks, three scientific teams at different pharmaceutical companies have given a weary, frightened world what it needs: a verifiable path to defeat the coronavirus pandemic, end the suffering and start the process of returning life to the normal rhythms of "before."
Imagine again going to work and school, to restaurants and concerts without significant risk of infection. Imagine being able to travel. Imagine hugging family members and friends. We are likely to get there in 2021 because a safe, effective covid-19 vaccine appears on pace for emergency regulatory approval and fast rollout. This gift of science will be ready--if we accept it.
Wait, if we accept it?
The big question about a covid-19 vaccine has shifted from efficacy to whether enough Americans will agree to receive it. Skepticism of inoculations is frustratingly widespread, despite overwhelming scientific evidence that they work. Shots are unpleasant and sometimes come with side effects.
Dr. Susan Bailey, president of the Chicago-based American Medical Association, tells us she trusts the career scientists in charge of the regulatory process to approve a safe covid-19 drug. Yet she worries: "I think our biggest concern is that we have a great vaccine and people don't take it."
Need reassurance that vaccines work? Diseases like polio and smallpox were eradicated in the United States by vaccines. Measles disappeared 20 years ago, but it's made a small comeback--because some parents stopped vaccinating their children.
Need a further dose of confidence? Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's leading authority on infectious diseases, tells USA Today that once the vaccine gets FDA approval, he'll take it and recommend that his family does too.