One thing most people can probably agree on in the age of COVID-19 is that we’re very much looking forward to things getting back to “normal,” whatever that is (or was). But if getting there involves taking a vaccine, particularly in the very near future, that’s where opinions begin to diverge.
It’s not surprising there’s some confusion around the matter. It was earlier this week that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director Robert Redfield predicted we wouldn’t see mass distribution of a vaccine until the middle of next year — a timetable mirrored by Cambridge-based Moderna’s own vaccine trial blueprint. But Redfield found himself contradicted later the same day by President Trump, who continued to insist we could see a vaccine in “three to four weeks,” with distribution beginning “immediately.” (And also that Redfield had just been “confused,” which is arguably not the best quality in a CDC director.)
Meanwhile, if the president does manage to come through with a pre-November vaccine, it’s likely that there are some who would be skeptical about its efficacy — for instance, Trump’s rival in the Nov. 3 election, former Vice President Joe Biden. “Let me be clear: I trust vaccines. I trust scientists,” Biden said in a speech on Wednesday. “But I don’t trust Donald Trump, and at this moment, the American people can’t either.”
So what’s a concerned citizen seeking a return to normalcy to do? Take the poll below to let us know how you plan to approach the vaccine question.
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