Vaccine expert Dr. Paul Offit joins Cameron English and Dr. Chuck Dinerstein on Episode 67 of the Science Dispatch podcast to answers these questions and discuss his new book:
As a pediatric infectious disease specialist and member of FDA's Vaccine Advisory Committee, Offit had a front-row seat as the COVID shots were developed in record time using a novel technology, then rapidly distributed to hundreds of millions of Americans. This, he says, was the greatest scientific accomplishment of his lifetime.
Nevertheless, about 30 percent of the US refused to take the vaccine. Why was there such widespread skepticism of the shots? Offit says the federal government, under both the Trump and Biden Administrations, made critical mistakes in communicating the risks and benefits of vaccination during the pandemic. He puts forward some commonsense solutions that could prevent a similarly hostile response in the future.
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Cameron English
Director of Bioscience
Cameron English is a writer, editor and co-host of the Science Facts and Fallacies Podcast. Before joining ACSH, he was managing editor at the Genetic Literacy Project.
