Tough on Anti-Vaxx Nonsense, Tough on the Causes of Anti-Vaxx Nonsense
Perhaps months away from the first COVID-19 vaccines, their effectiveness may be threatened by growing anti-vaccination sentiment in the Global North. The Left should brook no vaccine skepticism in its ranks, but we should also work to prevent the conditions that give rise to such irrationality in the first place.
In the Global North, most people are unaware that vaccines prevent 2-3 million deaths each year. (National Cancer Institute / Unsplash)
Democratic vice-presidential candidate Kamala Harris may have given an unwitting boost to the anti-vaccination movement during her debate with Vice President Mike Pence. When asked, she said that she would refuse to take a COVID-19 vaccine if it were approved by the Trump administration.
Harris is entirely correct to be horrified at how Trump and Pence have overseen Operation Warp Speed, the administration’s effort to accelerate development of a COVID-19 vaccine through funding of clinical trials and the pre-manufacturing of doses of candidate vaccines so that if they are shown to be safe and effective, distribution can begin straight away.
The overall fast-track framework of the program is supported by public health officials, but they have real concerns that President Trump has been meddling in the approval process for vaccines, pressuring the Food and Drug Administration to give the green light before the November election without safety and efficacy trials and constantly calling pharmaceutical CEOs to press them to speed up their work.
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