A vaccine stimulates your immune system to produce antibodies which give you immunity to that specific disease. A seemingly benign procedure - especially during a pandemic - there is a growing number of people who reject vaccinations for COVID-19 or any other disease. Anti-vaxxer groups on social media claim the spread of the virus will lead our government to ‘enforce’ vaccinations for coronavirus, cause millions of deaths, and lead to ‘unlimited surveillance.’ They point to studies that tried to show vaccines increase infant mortality and hospitalization rates. However, those studies are correlational in nature and don’t prove causality. These studies have also been criticized for cherry-picking the comparisons they report, for ignoring historical trends that support an opposing conclusion, and for counting vaccines in a manner that is "completely arbitrary and riddled with mistakes."

There are also a growing number of people who have not previously identified with the anti-vaxxer movement who are ‘vaccine hesitant.’ They fear the development of a vaccine for the coronavirus is being dangerously rushed for political reasons. Many are mistrustful of Operation Warp Speed, a sprawling federally funded effort that has paid billions of dollars to drug companies to manufacture hundreds of millions of doses of their vaccine without full clinical trials, and in advance of definitive data.

Pending Legislation: H.R.736 - Community Immunity During COVID–19 Act of 2021
Sponsor: Rep. Lauren Underwood (IL)
Status: House Subcommittee on Health (Energy and Commerce)
Chair: Rep. Anna Eshoo (CA)