Thread by @DrMattMcCarthy

During a #COVID19 lecture, I often get this question: “How do we reach herd immunity when there’s so much vaccine skepticism?” The number willing to be vaccinated appears well below the target threshold (~70%) to get back to normal life.
Here’s what I say: 1/

First, I try to meet skeptics where they’re at. That begins by acknowledging a few things:
1. The National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program exists for a reason.
2. The leading #COVID vaccine platforms are new and we don’t have long-term safety data.

3. Emergency authorization will likely curb manufacturer liability.
4. Vaccines have been rushed in the past (influenza, 1976) & the result wasn't good.
5. We don’t know how long protection will last or whether the shot will be a yearly thing (jury’s still out on antigenic drift)

6. It is completely reasonable to be unsure about an experimental vaccine.

Then I shift gears and explain what the past ten months have been like in the hospital. How it began with a cluster of patients with flu-like illness in February who didn’t have the flu. How those numbers swelled and our ICUs quickly filled up with patients...

with severe, life-threatening COVID.
How it’s happening again. 
I explain what crisis standards are and what rationing of medical care means for people—even those without COVID—and how the collapse of a healthcare system reverberates beyond the walls of a hospital.

Then I turn to COVID vaccines and discuss what they seemingly can and cannot do. They will not make the virus disappear and they may not prevent transmission, but they appear extraordinarily good at protecting people from severe disease. This matters.

I also mention that I fully support the vaccines we currently give patients & I have tremendous confidence in the Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) that is meeting on December 10 and 17 to publicly review data. This is transparency at its best.

I conclude with a simple thought: My job is to look people in the eye and tell them that something is safe & effective. The early news from vaccine studies fills me with hope that I’ll soon be able to do that. Until then, I understand why people are skeptical. I’m skeptical, too.