Different Takes: Delivery Of Vaccines Is Not The Easy Part; Yes, These Shots Have A Downside But Get Over It
Opinion pages express views about the complicated delivery of vaccines and the crafting of messages about them in order to get as many people vaccinated as possible.
Stat:
Don't Repeat The Mistakes Of Past Vaccine Distribution Supply Chains
When it comes to planning how Covid-19 vaccines will be delivered to the people who need them, I hope hindsight will be used to learn from the past and the U.S. and other countries won’t repeat the many problems with vaccine supply chains encountered in the past. (Bruce Y. Lee, 12/15)
The Washington Post:
The Vaccine Scientists Got The Job Done. Now The Messengers Need To Do Theirs.
I am not the weepy kind, and prior to Thursday, I had cried from happiness only twice in my life: on the day I got a job after two years of unemployment; and on the day I married my husband. Then my mother called me just as I finished watching the livestreamed proceedings of a Food and Drug Administration advisory panel that had met to consider Pfizer/BioNTech’s application for emergency approval of their covid-19 vaccine. “They did it,” I told her, and to my surprise, my voice broke and my eyes teared up. “They voted to give us the vaccine.” Sorry for getting maudlin, but as you well know, it has been a long nine months. (Megan McArdle, 12/14)
Axios:
Many Americans Are Hesitant About A Coronavirus Vaccine, But Few Are Truly Dug In
Many Americans are hesitant about a coronavirus vaccine, but few are truly dug in against one, according to our new KFF COVID-19 Vaccine Monitor. Why it matters: This is encouraging news, and suggests that people may be more willing to get vaccinated if they get more information from sources they trust. The big picture: Four groups jump out as vaccine hesitant: Republicans, rural Americans, Black adults and essential workers. (Drew Altman, 12/15)
CNN:
Doctors: After Initial Concern, This Is Why We Trust The Covid-19 Vaccine
The two of us, as emergency physicians, will be among the earliest recipients of vaccines against SARS-CoV-2, the novel coronavirus that causes Covid-19. We have both been asked how and why we made the choice to get our shot. We, like many fellow health care providers, were initially concerned about political pressure being put on the US Food and Drug Administration. Ultimately, though, four reasons, based on our years of experience in emergency medicine, public health and clinical trials, informed our decision to trust the vaccine -- and get vaccinated. (Megan L. Ranney and Esther K. Choo, 12/14)
The Hill:
Build Trust In Vaccines By Investing In Community Workers
When the workers at a pistachio packing plant in California’s Central Valley started falling ill last spring, they turned to Veronica Perez with questions. Ms. Perez is not a doctor or public health official — she’s a trained outreach volunteer from the nonprofit Líderes Campesinas. In the past, her neighbors and coworkers might have asked her for help locating a food pantry, applying for social services, or understanding where they could get affordable medical care. This time, their questions were about COVID-19. (Rishi Manchanda and Claire Qureshi, 12/14)
Los Angeles Times:
Among Those Slated To Get Vaccinated Now, We'll Have To Prioritize. Who Should Be Last In Line?
What if what makes a difference in how quickly the pandemic ends isn’t who gets vaccinated first, but who gets vaccinated last? There are more than 16 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 infection in the United States and more than 1 million new confirmed cases are accruing each week. At the current pace, we are likely to enter the new year with approximately 20 million confirmed cases. And the true number of infected individuals is thought to be even higher, by some estimates three to 10 times higher. A best guess is that somewhere in the neighborhood of 100 million Americans have already had a SARS-CoV2 infection, and given the current increase in cases, many of them will have been infected recently. (Amit Kaushal, Jiayin Xue and Robert M. Kaplan, 12/15)
The Washington Post:
As Americans Die By The Thousands, Trump Cronies Cut In Line For Coronavirus Treatments And Vaccines
Rudy Giuliani is a horrible human being. I’m not talking about his hair-dye malfunction, his cruelty about Hunter Biden’s drug problems or his outing to the landscaping business hard by the porn shop. I’m talking about this: Somebody may very well be dying right now because of his recklessness. (Dana Milbank, 12/14)
The Hill:
Real COVID-19 Relief? Use All Tools To Invest In The 'Care Economy'
As Congress works to cut a deal on COVID-19 relief legislation, there are disturbing reports that lawmakers may ignore the economic needs of millions of Americans struggling to care for children and other loved ones who depend on them. If lawmakers don’t step up to help them now, new data from the 2020 elections suggest they could pay a price at the polls next time. (Lisa Guide, 12/14)
The Wall Street Journal:
After Covid-19
Stocks rallied Monday morning on the vaccine news. And for some reason many investors also seem to want another round of debt-fueled Washington spending. It seems likely that at some point there will be a reckoning in the value of the dollar and/or the size of federal tax bills from the 2020 Beltway Covid response. But for now unfortunately the question is whether the response should be expanded still further. Fortunately not everyone is eager to accept Beltway premises. (James Freeman, 12/14)
