If We Get a Vaccine, the Politics Could Be Messy

Even if scientists find a vaccine, two Science articles argue it may not spell an easy end to Covid-19. For one, tricky ethical decisions lie ahead over who should be vaccinated first, Jon Cohen writes. “Nobody’s going to debate health care workers and first responders—people who are putting themselves at risk for others and keeping things moving,” former US National Vaccine Program Director Bruce Gellin, now of the Sabin Vaccine Institute, tells Cohen. “After that is when it gets complicated.”

Warren Cornwall expects anti-vaccine politics to get in the way, noting an online uptick. “In May, a documentary-style video, ‘Plandemic,’ purporting that COVID-19 related deaths were exaggerated and a vaccine could kill millions, got more than 7 million views on YouTube before it was removed because of its unsubstantiated claims,” he writes. “Other outlandish claims include that vitamin C can cure COVID-19 and that the disease is a conspiracy involving philanthropist Bill Gates.”