EP 446 Vaccine Diplomacy in a Time of Anti-Science
It is a head scratcher to many of us that the anti-vaccination movement has taken hold in the way that it has in the 21st century given the unassailable fact that vaccines have saved hundreds of millions of lives. The achievements are astounding. Vaccines have eradicated small pox, virtually eliminated polio, brought measles transmission down by 90 percent and basically wiped meningitis off the books. And the new technology vaccines against COVID-19, the scourge of this era, show remarkable early results turning a killer disease into a mildly annoying one for those who are stricken. And yet anti-science and other social and political factors are aiding previously conquered afflications to rise again. In his book, ‘Preventing the Next Pandemic’. Dr. Peter Hotez, a mainstay authority on cable news throughout the pandemic, describes the forces allied to make medical and vaccine diplomacy a must in the period ahead. It’s a critical topic to discuss as the world struggles with challenges that weaken public health in this moment of crisis.
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