Ross: Eventually, we’ll all need to take a leap of faith with the vaccine

The FDA has now given full approval to the Pfizer vaccine, and according to Dr. Peter Marks, who was in charge of the process, they didn’t just double-check the arithmetic.

“We actually go and we monitor the percentage of the sites where the clinical trials were conducted in order to make sure that the data matches what’s submitted to the agency,” he described.

And then they send out inspection teams.

“We go and we inspect the facilities that are making the product,” he continued.

But they don’t stop there…

“And then we did risk assessments on real world data that has emerged since the vaccine has been used in hundreds of millions of people globally,” he added.

In fact, the process is so exhaustive, there’s an article in the Atlantic arguing that by insisting on this three-month re-investigation of the Pfizer vaccine, the FDA actually caused thousands of unnecessary deaths because the delay provided an excuse for so many people not to get the shot, even though we knew long ago that it was safe and effective.

The real problem is that in the age of the internet, fear gets clicks, clicks make money, and if it erodes people’s trust in what works, that’s just collateral damage.

What I’ve learned is sooner or later, we are all going to have to take a leap of faith, whether it’s getting a vaccine, bungee jumping, or just getting into your car for the daily commute.

It had nothing to do with COVID, but exactly 20 days ago, I had to trust a team of surgeons to hook me up to a heart-lung machine, stop my heart, open it up, and take out a tumor. I’d met the lead surgeon exactly twice, but I trusted him, because I trusted the system that put him there.

None of us can be all-knowing, even with giga-speed internet.

There are no guarantees. In my case, so far so good.

And on this vaccine – you not only have final FDA approval now, you can just look around you and see who’s living, and who’s dying.

I know it takes a leap of faith, but if you’ve been holding out, it’s time to get yourself to the tarmac as quickly as you can. That virus is out to recruit everyone it touches, and those it infects will just help create the next mutation. Like it or not, you’ll have to make up your mind whose side you’re on.

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