In 1976 there was a surprise outbreak of the flu. It was a big story. There was a lot of pressure on public officials to act quickly. They did. A vaccine was released. Within 48 hours dozens of Americans died. It obviously became quite difficult to convince folks to get vaccinated. So President Ford went on TV, pulled up his sleeve, and took his medicine. But then more people had adverse effects related to the vaccine and it was pulled.
So while we all can feel the pressure to create and distribute a vaccine at this moment in history, you can bet health officials know this story all too well.
