Trust is health’s most valuable player

COVID-19 has made clear that the politicization of health is incredibly dangerous; the health of billions of individuals is at stake, but so too is trust in pharmaceutical companies, in the scientific process, and in government and our regulatory agencies. For example, the White House’s efforts to block updated FDA requirements—which pushed regulatory approval beyond November’s election—and the subsequent reversing of that position shook the public’s trust in the safety of any potential COVID-19 vaccine. That trust was already teetering. Notably, the Reagan-Udall Foundation for the FDA recently reported major public concerns about potential vaccines expressed by members of historically underrepresented groups as well as frontline healthcare workers.

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