Counterpoint: I am not optimistic about these vaccines

My most recent daydream takes place at a doctor’s office. I sit down, roll up my sleeve and get stuck with a needle that has been stored in an ultra-cold freezer. In this fantasy, millions of other people across the country are doing the same thing—getting immunized against COVID-19, the virus that has wreaked havoc worldwide for the better part of 2020.

Since March, the Department of Health and Human Services has been working nonstop to develop a vaccine, and in May, Operation Warp Speed was funded to provide 330 million doses by January of 2020. As the name suggests, this is an extremely fast timeline, faster than any other widely-used vaccine in the U.S. If it works, it will be a huge victory for scientists, citizens and yes, even the federal administration behind it.

While some skeptics say that we shouldn’t trust a vaccine developed so quickly, I believe we don’t have much of a choice.

First, I want to acknowledge my own personal bias. I’m writing this while stuck in quarantine housing on Washington University’s campus. I want this pandemic to be over as much as I did when the latter half of my senior year of high school was canceled, or when I couldn’t see my grandparents this summer or when the thousand other personal inconveniences brought on by the virus obstructed my usual plans. I’m also certainly not the only one who is fed up with these “unprecedented times.”

But we need to look at the bigger issues, past the momentary “Aw, this sucks,” if we’re considering whether or not a mass-produced, fast-tracked vaccine is trustworthy. Unfortunately, I believe our decision has essentially already been made for us. If it’s between getting a vaccine that has bypassed a few typical FDA regulations and watching more Americans become devastated by this virus, I’m choosing the needle, thanks. As of today (and it will be higher tomorrow) there are almost 178, 200 new cases of COVID-19 in the U.S. contributing to over 12 million total cases. And let’s certainly not forget the over a quarter of a million people already killed by the virus and the millions of grieving loved ones left in their wake.

When people stress over wanting the new vaccine fine-tuned and perfected before release, I’m reminded of Kim Kardashian losing her diamond earring on her beach vacation and her sister’s subsequent remark: “There’s people that are dying, Kim.” And don’t even get me started about the myths surrounding government-tracking devices on syringes or wealthy anti-vaxxer campaigns. Yet on a more serious note, I’m struggling to come up with a side effect or even government conspiracy that would outweigh the thousands of lives that continue to succumb to COVID-19 each day.

Of course, safety and efficacy should be a top priority of the vaccine, there’s no debate there. But in the race of our lives, with the science and administrative world turned to one common goal, I’m choosing to place my trust in the hands of Big Pharma, because I believe it’s the best option at the moment. If you look closer at Operation Warp Speed, you’ll see that the main difference between the COVID vaccine process and other typical vaccines is that phases of testing are being completed simultaneously, not being skipped. It makes sense why, with all hands on deck, this change to the system is both possible and necessary.

The roles citizens play in this pandemic is not to be a skeptic of synthetic mRNA or a critic of FDA policies—though that may come later. Right now, we are simply doing our best to #stopthespread by following guidelines and when the chance comes, getting vaccinated.

So when a vaccine does come knocking, I’m not just opening the door, but inviting it in for tea. And for all this to work, we need millions of Americans to make the same leap of faith—to push up their shirtsleeves, look away from the needle, take a deep breath and do their part to end the madness.