NIH director pleads with Americans to hit 'reset button' on vaccine skepticism

The COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech is officially on the move as of Sunday morning, and inoculations could begin as early as Monday morning, but there are still several logistical hurdles in place that suggest the United States' massive vaccination effort may not be a smooth ride. The biggest potential roadblock of them all, though, might be if people refuse to take it.

Francis Collins, the director of the National Institutes of Health, appeared on NBC's Meet the Press on Sunday and pleaded with Americans to drop their preconceptions about the vaccine. In response to host Chuck Todd's question about a study out of Florida's Miami-Dade County that suggested only about half of all health care workers were willing to receive an injection during the initial roll out, Collins said vaccine skepticism was a "great concern." He noted that trial data is public and indicates Pfizer's vaccine is safe and effective. "I think all reasonable people, if they had the chance to sort of put the noise aside and disregard all those terrible conspiracy theories, would look at this and say I want this for my family, I want this for myself," Collins told Todd.

Food and Drug Administration Chief Stephen Hahn on Sunday similarly told ABC News' Martha Raddatz that public weariness about the vaccine poses a "significant problem," and argued the government needs to address those "fears and concerns" with "transparency."

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