I think the FDA could have been proactive in informing the public of vaccine facts. The pandemic made way for misinformation to be shared, which put a lot of people in harm's way. The FDA could have also guarded medical supply chain. Many health care facilities had to operate with little to no supply of personal protective equipment. Given the uncertainty of the pandemic, I do believe the FDA worked tirelessly to protect the public. However, there should have been some preparation for a pandemic. For future occurrences, I suggest the FDA build a strong communicate infrastructure and reliable work force. I suggest investing in supply chain resources to insure little to no delays in deliveries. Lastly, I think the FDA should create more evident political pipelines to ensure the public is being taken care of. 

The FDA rolled out the COVID-19 vaccines with as much resource information as they could. I think their intentions were misconstrued and muddled as other media outlets began to provide information that was properly validated. I think if the public was given one true source of information then more people would have been confident in their decision to be vaccinated. I personally think more people would have trusted the science if they were not provided misinformation and other convoluted ideas.

In my opinion, the FDA handled the COVID vaccine rollout in 2020-2021 terribly. When speaking to the public, you have to be able to put it in terms of which people who aren't in your profession can understand and the FDA nor the CDC did that. Also, in the black community and the historical context around medicine and vaccines, it is not the best. From experiments like the Tuskegee experiment caught but it has led the black community not to trust in the medical field nor scientific field. In the future, the FDA should prep regular citizens on understanding what went into the process of pushing out the COVID-19 vaccines so quickly. People all around the world did not understand that scientists were getting together to produce the COVID vaccine at a much faster pace because they understood the extensive repercussions that came with COVID-19. The FDA should take the time to educate rather than push something into the public without explaining it first. A great way that the FDA can helped the general public understand their FDA regulations is by releasing A1 pager and giving primary sources that are more accessible to everyday people.

Handling a pandemic is of course going to be messy, no matter which government agency handles it, and the way the FDA handled the vaccine rollout was probably the best that could've happened. The vaccine was developed rather quickly due to the accelerated timeline and the large impact that COVID had on people. The vaccine was given often in many different places, such as pharmacies, doctor's offices, and even parking lots, where many volunteered, which was very different, but due to the urgency, it was neccessitated. The other issue that the FDA had to combat was the major misinformation about the vaccine that was created due to the fear of the government as well as past involvement of medicine with the people. Things such as the vaccine having a microchip to treat people, a medicine used for horses, and countries not having COVID were major sources of information where people believed, which was counterproductive for the FDA in getting the population of people vaccinated. Suggestions for future changes would be that if there was more information being shared with the public, the information would be available in multiple languages, and more public information seminars would be the changes that would be implemented. Controlling the information during the pandemic proved challenging, and any source of information was popping up where people didn't know what to believe. If the FDA had been more open and shared more information, the pandemic vaccine rollout would've resolved better.

Although not entirely ideal, I believe the FDA handled the vaccine rollout in the best way they could. A big component of getting people vaccinated was fighting against misinformation, which is always an uphill battle. Misinformation can spread easily and quickly, especially from when it comes from influential people. Although misinformation was combated through press conferences and scientific articles, sometimes people are so set in their beliefs that they will not listen and misinformation will continue to spread. Plenty of articles explaining the vaccines, what they do, and their success rates exist, but people can refuse to read them and comprehend. Do you think that changing rules to enter facilities during the height of Covid would have better encouraged people getting the vaccine? For example, implementing a rule requiring businesses to check for proof of vaccination in order to enter a facility. I remember when the vaccine started to roll out, people in my area started to rush to get the vaccine because a similar rule was implemented in local businesses. Although, if a rule like this was implemented nationwide, I could absolutely see a lot of public outcry against it and even more distrust being brewed towards the government. Maybe it would be effective, but at the cost of the public's trust.

I believe the FDA has managed the timing of the Covid-19 pandemic well to some extent. They gave a lot of information and advice on how people should take care and protect themselves from the Covid-19 virus. Also, the FDA handled the situation with the vaccines well, making sure they didn't go through all the safety stages that a vaccine must go through in humans, since their use in humans at the time was an emergency. The mere presence of a vaccine was a mental relief for most people. Also, after people began to be vaccinated, the number of deaths fell significantly.

While most responses go back and forth on the FDA's response to the Pandemic, I'd argue that it did a great job under the circumstances, but is perceived badly because of the amount of misinformation other organizations and even individuals put online. This creates doubt, and although the FDA's reputation has enabled an overarching presence, doubt and confusion between mass numbers will always make things worse. Information that can be directed not only towards those in need of answer, but for those making false claims are steps to ensure that a mass number of people don't grow accustom to a singular voice. Its hard to discredit the FDA because they were a channel form for global collaboration, and advancements in vaccine technology. Approval for vaccines had to be both quickly deployed but at the same time, readily checked since looking back from today we've continued to see more and more variants of COVID-19. 

I think the way the FDA handled the COVID-19 vaccine rollout from 2020-2021 was a significant achievement, although it had its flaws. They were able to balance the urgency by the government and public to release a vaccine with the necessary safety requirements and keeping public trust. The rapid development and emergency use authorization (EUA) of the vaccines were not produced simply by newfound research as the public once suspected. It was substantiated by pre-existing research, substantial funding, and a streamlined process. This quick development understandably raised concerns among the public about the vaccine's safety and efficacy. The FDA, to our knowledge, was transparent, communicating specific process through public meetings and documents, and collaborating with initiatives like Operation Warp Speed, which is used to enhance development and distribution while upholding the rigorous safety standards currently implemented. 

Many people agree that there were plenty of areas in which the FDA could have improved this process. The communication was too technical for a portion of the public, alienating groups of peoples. This could have been easily solved by simplifying language or using videos/infographics which could make the information more accessible and understandable. Additionally, public engagement could have been increased through forums, where citizens could ask questions and express concerns, which would create a greater level of trust between the general public and the FDA/government.

Moving forward, I think the FDA could benefit from educational campaigns that can clearly explain issues and regulations, involve community leaders, and establish a feedback mechanism to ensure all voices can be heard. By enhancing transparency, accessibility, and engagement, the FDA can build trust and understanding in future health emergencies.

Like they say, hindsight is always 20/20. The FDA could've handled the rollout of the vaccine much more effectively. But didn't at the time as a pandemic of that scale and severity hadn't been seen since the 1918 Influenza Pandemic-with the Covid 19 pandemic being even worse than that in terms of scale. Ideally, it would've worked best if the FDA had worked with other agencies to ensure supply chain of vital medical equipment needed-however-this didn't happen as everyone was completely blindsided at the time. Many safety regulations are written in blood, and after this pandemic, the FDA likely has many more rules and procedures in place to deal with such a global scale threat.

At the time it would've been much more effective if the FDA had released the steps that a biological product would have to go through normally, vs what the covid vaccine went through and why/how it was determined to be safe. This info would have had to be released in a much easier to understand and digestible manner for the general public. But info like this would have made the covid vaccine roll out much more smooth.