Confidence in vaccines needs a shot in the arm
Vaccine hesitancy — the reluctance of people to get inoculated against disease — was a public health difficulty before the pandemic. Now it has grownmore serious just when everyone is looking to vaccines to save the day. Doubts and suspicions, once stirred by a small phalanx of activists, have becomemore widespread, in part in response to President Trump’s unrealistic promises to rush a vaccine out before Election Day.
It is time for less hyperventilating andmore clear thinking about vaccines. When proven safe and effective, they save lives. Almost certainly, there will not be a vaccine before the election, and not for months afterward. Vaccine development, trials and manufacturing are fraught with risk. There are failures. Don’t be alarmed. Vaccines can work.
The growing doubtswere reported this week in a new Gallup poll that asked: If a vaccine approved by the Food and Drug Administration were available right now at no cost, would you get vaccinated? Only 50% said yes, a sharp drop-off from66% in July and 61% in August. A big fall in confidence came amongdemocrats, from 78% responding yes in August to only 53% at the end of September, while Republican confidence increased from 37% to 49%. The survey is based on responses from 2,730 adults, 18 years and older.
The global effort to find, test andmanufacture a vaccine in record time, given the virus death toll of more than1 million around the world, is both necessary and extraordinary; it has already involved more brainpower and resources than ever before. News media coverage of every speed bump has clearly heightened anxiety. But Trumpwent off the rails with outlandish promises to have a vaccine ready by Election Day or soon thereafter. “We essentially have it — we will be announcing it soon,” he said lastmonth. Gallup said this rhetoric “raised concerns” about vaccine safety and effectiveness; a recent CNN poll showed a similar trend, without mentioning a time frame. Black andhispanic Americans, traditionally underserved by health care, show even greater hesitancy to get vaccinated against the coronavirus thanwhites, according toamay survey by the Associated PRESS-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
Before the pandemic, the antivaccination movement used socialmedia to spread suspicions and distrust. Facebook has taken steps in recent days to fight the problem, though it will undoubtedly have to do more.
In the 2019-2020 flu season, 51.8% of Americans sixmonths and older were vaccinated. Child vaccination rates in the United States formeasles, mumps, rubella, polio and chickenpox were above 90% in 2017. Vaccine hesitancy is not a new problem but is more urgent than ever. A credible, concerted effortmust bemade to boost confidence in vaccines that are proven safe and efficacious against the coronavirus. Such a campaignmust be based on science and medicine, leaving political shenanigans behind.