My Facebook feed is once again populated by images of people grateful for Covid vaccines, now that their young children have become eligible. Accompanying pictures of their children with colorful Band-Aids on their arms is typically a caption “thanking science” for developing the vaccine.
It is the season for expressing thanks. With that in mind, I’m here to urge us all to thank more than just science, or scientists, for developing these amazing vaccines. In fact, here is an incomplete list of other people and groups we should thank:
1. Science and Scientists: Although I am writing to urge us to not limit our thanks to scientists, I would be remiss not to thank them for their work. Many dedicated scientists have worked insane hours developing the vaccine. They deserve our, literally, undying gratitude.
2. Research volunteers: Scientists, on their own, did not prove that vaccines are effective against Covid. Instead, researchers conducted clinical trials in which tens of thousands of people voluntarily put themselves forward to help us all figure out whether the vaccines worked.
3. Pharma: Without for-profit companies willing to invest money in vaccine development, testing, and production, we would not have many shots in many arms.
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