After months of uncertainty, the end of the coronavirus pandemic is finally within reach.
The first nurses and doctors got their vaccination shots on Dec. 14, and other vaccines are in the pipeline. Meanwhile, people are shedding their skepticism of the shots.
In a recent poll, 63% said they would be willing to get a COVID-19 vaccine as soon as possible, according to Gallup. That is 13 percentage points higher than a similar poll conducted in September, when only 58% said they were open to being vaccinated.
Axios found a similar boost in trust among those who were originally wary of the developed vaccines. More than 1 in 4 of the respondents Axios polled last week said they plan to get the vaccine immediately, which is more than twice the percentage of respondents who indicated a similar confidence in September.
Several factors explain this trend. The first is that several studies have proved the efficiency and safety of developed coronavirus vaccines. Pfizer and BioNTech announced that their vaccine had an efficacy rate of 95%. Moderna’s efficacy rate against the coronavirus is 94.5%. This is, by all standards, incredible. The Food and Drug Administration was expected to grant emergency approval for vaccines that showed just 50% efficacy.
Even among the medical community, these numbers are astounding.
“These are game-changers,” Dr. Gregory Poland, a vaccine researcher at the Mayo Clinic, told the New York Times. “We were all expecting 50 to 70%.”
Cultural influences have also worked to normalize the vaccine over the past few months. Former Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama announced they would each receive the vaccine on live television to help people feel comfortable with the process, and President-elect Joe Biden recently agreed to join them. They won’t convince everyone, but their actions will certainly help dispel questions about the vaccine’s safety.
Also, people want their normal lives back and see vaccination as the fastest route. Governors and mayors have said their restrictions will stay in place until a vaccine is widely available. School districts across the country are saying the same thing. The public just wants a solution, and right now, that solution is a vaccine.
No matter why they do it, we should be thankful that so many people are willing to be vaccinated quickly. Mass immunization will help drive down new infection rates, which will save jobs, businesses, and, more importantly, lives.
