Booster is a series exploring the COVID-19 vaccine, and what it means for young people – from the science behind it to how it affects our lives.
Although the first case of the novel coronavirus was diagnosed in the United States on January 20, 2020, it would be several more weeks until it became clear that we were in the midst of a global pandemic. Unlike the outbreak of Ebola from 2014 to 2016 and severe respiratory syndrome (SARS) from 2002 to 2004 – where the majority of cases and deaths occurred outside the U.S. – it was not. we can ignore COVID-19, pushing it off as a problem for the rest of the world, but not us.
Because scientists and physicians were scrambling to make sense of SARS-CoV-2, never seen before in humans, there was innumerable knowledge about the spread, prevention and treatment of the virus. But one part was clear: in March 2020, interview after interview with public health and infectious diseases experts – including Dr Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases (not yet a household name) ) – importance of developing a vaccine to stop the worldwide spread of COVID-19.
This quickly rose into the “race for the vaccine,” with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) announcing their first clinical trial of the COVID vaccine on March 16th. But by then, the COVID-19 vaccine had already been pollinated. At a cabinet meeting on March 2, former President Donald Trump announced that he had heard that vaccinations could be ready in “three or four months” – something Fauci immediately opposed, saying it was more likely to be year – over – and – a – half.
Trump’s fantasy timeline was very interesting for a number of reasons; in particular, what he has to do from spending his entire term routinely destroying or forgetting science, to thinking of research as a form of magic that can safely vaccinate and create effective within a few months. This was upsetting for everyone – from so many of his supporters who were positioned not to believe in things like empirical evidence – to those who have been pro-science all the time, but has now made the second measurement of the vaccines in development, because of Trump’s deception. hope about the pace of the research process.
Opinions regarding vaccination against the new coronavirus have shifted significantly over the past year. Beginning in May 2020, the Pew Research Center began studying Americans to see if they could get a COVID-19 vaccine if one were available that day. At that time, 72% of respondents said they would “definitely” or “probably”, and 27% said they would not “definitely” or “probably” get the vaccine.
But confidence in the vaccine fell sharply when a follow-up study was conducted in September 2020, with only 51% of people saying they would get it, and 49% saying they would not. Pew’s most recent study was conducted in late November, after initial reports from Pfizer and Moderna found that their COVID vaccine candidates had efficacy levels of around 90%. Experiencing this, respondents were willing to increase the vaccine, now with 60% saying they would get it, and 39% saying they would not.
Now that we are almost two months old from the introduction of the vaccine, we have reached a turning point: when the public needs to decide whether to vaccinate against COVID -19 (once the distribution is more efficient). We know that the only way to return to any normal type is by reaching herd immunity – something Fauci said last December that about 70 and 90% of the country needs to be vaccinated.