18 newyork| september14–27, 2020
The Scienceof Us:
St ephenS. Hall
What If They
Makea Vaccine and
NobodyTakesIt?
Therearealreadyclear
si gnsthatthe public
is suspiciousabout
co rnersbeing cut.
intelligencer
PHOTOGRAPH:
TETRA
IMAGES/GETTY
IMAGES
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 adminis-
tration’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 admin-
istration 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.