Why Are So Many Americans Hesitant To Get A COVID-19 Vaccine?

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🗓️ 10 September 2020

⏱️ 13 minutes

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Summary

As trials continue for a coronavirus vaccine, some of the world's biggest drug companies have come together in an unusual way. This week, nine drugmakers released a joint statement pledging to not submit a coronavirus vaccine to the Food and Drug Administration unless it's shown to be safe and effective in large clinical trials.

NPR's Sydney Lupkin reports that the statement comes as a commitment to science, at a time when some Americans have expressed concern that the trials are being rushed.

Part of this concern comes from those who feel politics are influencing the processes vaccines must go through. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have told states a potential vaccine may be ready for distribution as soon as late October — right before Election Day. But when speaking with NPR's Mary Louise Kelly, Dr. Moncef Slaoui, chief scientific adviser to Operation Warp Speed, said there is a "very low chance" a vaccine will be ready by then.

While some Americans are skeptical about a coronavirus vaccine, it doesn't seem like many of those people work on Wall Street. Each time a new vaccine trial phase is announced or a new scientific hurdle is cleared, drug company stock goes up. NPR's Tom Dreisbach reported that executives at one company took advantage of those rising stock prices.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Pfizer, Johnson and Johnson and GlaxoSmithCline are some of the biggest drug companies in the world.
0:05.5	We're talking multi-billion dollar operations. Companies not exactly known for playing nice with
0:10.6	each other. This morning a major development in the race to produce a coronavirus vaccine and
0:15.9	something very unprecedented. Some of the country's most well-known drug makers now presenting a
0:21.6	United Front saying they- This week, nine drug companies, including the ones we just mentioned,
0:26.4	took the unusual step of banding together to say. With increasing public concerns about the
0:33.2	processes that we are using to develop these vaccines and even more importantly the processes
0:38.3	that would be used to evaluate these vaccines, we saw it as critical to come out and
0:43.8	rein etterate our commitment. That's Pfizer-CEO Albert Borla. That commitment, a pledge not to submit
0:51.4	a coronavirus vaccine for FDA review unless it's been shown to be safe and effective in large
0:57.2	clinical trials. And that may sound obvious and also backwards like you'd expect the government
1:04.1	to be the cautious party here and the drug companies to move fast. But in fact, there's growing
1:09.6	concern the Trump administration isn't a hurry to get a vaccine out the door before election day.
1:14.7	So we're going to have a vaccine very soon. Maybe even before a very special day. You know what
1:19.8	date I'm talking about. Consider this. Hopes for a coronavirus vaccine are high, but trust in the
1:27.1	process to develop one is less so. From NPR, I'm Audie Cornish. It's Thursday, September 10th.
1:37.9	Support for this NPR podcast and the following message come from BetterHelp.
1:42.0	Online counseling by licensed professional counselors specializing in isolation, depression,
1:47.2	stress and anxiety. Visit BetterHelp.com slash consider to learn more and get 10% off your first month.
1:55.2	I'm Lisa Hagen. And I'm Chris Axel. We're the hosts of No Compromise. NPR's new podcast
2:01.7	exploring one family's mission to reconstruct America using two powerful tools, guns and Facebook.
2:08.7	New episodes drop every Tuesday. Join us for the No Compromise podcast from NPR.
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