As a Canadian working in American public health, I have long been troubled by a rise in anti-vaccine attitudes. In recent years, we have seen the views of those who doubt the safety and efficacy of vaccines gain traction in the public debate. This is especially concerning in this time of COVID-19, when vaccines have the potential to end the crisis for good.
And make no mistake: COVID vaccines are safe and effective, as the data have consistently shown.
We expect doubts about vaccines to come from people who are explicitly anti-vaccine, and they have. But in recent months, a new kind of vaccine skepticism has emerged. It has come from those who should know better, those who work in health and patient care, who understand the value of vaccines, but whose fear of the virus has kept them from acting on what they know. Out of an overabundance of caution, they would keep pandemic restrictions in place, even as vaccination becomes widespread.
This is why, in Canada, many nursing home residents remain under the strict lockdowns they have been enduring for a year, despite being among the first groups to be vaccinated.
Read the full piece on Toronto Star.