MADISON, Wis. — UW Health experts are sharing more information about COVID-19 vaccines to answer common questions and address vaccine hesitancy.
According to Dr. James Conway, professor of pediatrics at the UW School of Medicine and Public Health, and a vaccine expert and pediatrician at UW Health, vaccine hesitancy is often fueled by a number of causes like natural skepticism, confusion from media reports or misinformation.
“It really comes down to the fact that people want to know that these new vaccines are safe and effective,” Dr. Conway said. “It’s natural to be a little skeptical given how quickly these vaccines were created.”
Three vaccines — Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson — have been approved for emergency use in the U.S. All three are effective at preventing severe illness, hospitalizations and death. According to Dr. Conway, there have been virtually no significant safety concerns about the vaccines.
All three were approved by the Food and Drug Administration approval process after robust clinical trials. While the vaccines were approved much faster than previous vaccines for other illnesses, Dr. Conway said that’s due to a streamlined process with more urgency and fewer delays.
Dr. Conway went on to say the pandemic has given the world a real-time look at how health experts evaluate the safety and effectiveness of vaccines.
“As tens of millions of people have been vaccinated to this point in the U.S., we can see that they are working, but just as important, they are proving to be very safe,” he said.
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