Scientists can make safe and effective vaccines against novel pathogens. The bigger challenge is convincing everyone to use them.
It's only been in recent months, as hundreds of thousands of Americans have died of Covid — despite the availability of vaccines — that a growing number of physician scientists have become vocal about vaccine hesitancy, and acknowledged that they need to heed Osler's early warnings.on MSNBC in late 2021 that he and other scientists"underestimated the vaccine hesitancy issue."
"I was genuinely shocked that there's been so much pushback," Prutzman told the World Vaccine Congress. He acknowledged that it's not enough for the FDA to simply make sure vaccines are safe and effective. Therein lies the uncomfortable part for these scientists who tend to prefer data over drama. Addressing vaccine hesitancy and refusal means getting"messy," Hotez said."It means talking about Republicans and Democrats and liberals and conservatives."Last year, Surgeon General Murthy called on tech companies to do more to take on users spreading inaccurate and misleading vaccine information.