Vaccines are safe, effective and necessary according to the government’s premier infectious disease expert; yet some individuals will still refuse them.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the public face of coronavirus response efforts, will sit for back-to-back marathon interviews with House lawmakers Monday and Tuesday. They will pose him questions on vaccine mandates as well as origin of coronavirus outbreak.
Vaccines Are Effective
During the pandemic, America’s leading infectious disease expert was an often contentious figure, derided by those opposing lockdowns and masking requirements while being idolized by those supporting them. He became a target for those concerned the government was restricting medical freedom or restricting individual liberty.
He has stood up for state and company vaccination mandates as well as dismissed allegations that genetic modification of the virus in Wuhan led to pandemic outbreak. Furthermore, he disproved Republican Rep. Rand Paul’s contention that research had been falsified to suppress evidence suggesting the outbreak originated naturally rather than from labs.
Health officials shouldn’t force people to get vaccines, but sometimes mandates work – mandating that air travelers be immunized as an example of such. He noted that ensuring a decline in cases, hospitalizations and deaths from Covid depends on getting as many people vaccinated as possible.
Vaccines Are Safe
Though vaccines can cause minor side effects like swelling and fever, they are invaluable lifesavers. Each one must go through rigorous safety testing and clinical trials to ensure its use is safe, and can protect children and adults alike against illnesses that used to lead to hospitalizations, serious illness or even death — such as tetanus, diphtheria, measles, mumps, whooping cough, meningitis and polio.
Fauci’s advocacy of vaccine mandates has only increased anti-vaccine sentiment among many Americans and reinforced a perception of government exerting authoritarianism.
Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.), for one, has strongly denounced those spreading fear about vaccines by likening them to “medical brown shirts.” Nonetheless, cases of Covid-19 continue to escalate despite low vaccination rates in the US; Fauci indicated his support for mandating passengers showing proof of vaccination before flying domestic flights and also supported CDC’s decision to temporarily suspend Johnson & Johnson’s single-shot vaccine and hinted it may soon be reinstated.
Vaccines Are Cost-Effective
Cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA), an integral component of public health policy decision making, shows how vaccines often offset their initial expense through savings realized from disease prevention. This principle forms the cornerstone of vaccination policy decision-making.
Vaccines are an integral component of America’s public health infrastructure and have proven themselves as one of the most cost-effective medical interventions ever implemented. Furthermore, vaccines have also proven safe; most adverse events associated with vaccine use have been mild and short-lived.
Fauci has been at the heart of US government’s response to COVID-19 pandemic. He became a divisive figure during its outbreak as he supported state and private industry vaccination mandates such as those implemented at schools or companies such as Carhartt. Fauci also clashed with GOP lawmakers such as Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul over his insistence that any doubts regarding origins of virus be acknowledged, with Fauci arguing such questions were simply scientific differences between theories such as natural or lab-made creation.
This week’s marathon meetings will give Fauci an additional opportunity to defend his policies and scientific evidence supporting them, though he may fail to change millions of Americans’ perceptions that their personal autonomy is under attack by an authoritarian federal power grab.
Vaccines Are Not Harmful
As the nation’s top infectious disease expert, Fauci played a critical role during the coronavirus pandemic: He became its face. Though not responsible for crafting federal vaccine mandates requiring private companies and airline carriers to require employees get vaccinated against coronavirus infection, he provided full support.
But quickly became evident that vaccines were only partially effective at preventing infection and failed to produce durable immunity, due to how quickly the virus had evolved. They simply couldn’t work in time.
Even so, government’s persistent mandates trapped many Americans into feeling they were being coerced by their government and not given sufficient information to make informed choices. This contributed to increased cynicism regarding vaccine effectiveness and public-health officials – sparking increased refusal rates that left us well below peer nations in terms of vaccination rates.
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