COVID-19 Vaccines

The vaccines for COVID-19 were developed in record time, offering safe and effective protection against infection and even greater protection against death from the disease. Despite the wide availability of the vaccines, some 70 million eligible Americans have not yet been vaccinated. The ranks of vaccine skeptics remain substantial, fueled by misinformation spread through social media and an increasingly polarized electorate, even as the coronavirus has killed more Americans than any disease outbreak in history. Public health experts blame vaccine hesitancy for the continuing death toll in the United States, with some workers quitting their jobs or being fired rather than giving in to orders from governments or their employers to get vaccinated. Meanwhile, federal health authorities have approved booster shots for many Americans, even as a majority of other nations lack any vaccines at all. As the country heads into another winter with COVID-19 threatening the population, can more Americans be convinced that, rather than causing harm, vaccines could save their lives?