Suppressing Medical Debate Over COVID-19 Will Only Prolong the Disease

People wait in line to get tested for COVID-19 at the Ann Street School Covid-19 Testing Center in Newark, N.J., on Nov. 12, 2020. Timothy A. Clary/AFP via Getty Images

Commentary

Pfizer’s Nov. 9 announcement that its BioNTech vaccine for COVID-19 was 90 percent effective in late-stage trials, and Moderna’s Nov. 16 announcement that its vaccine was 94.5 percent effective, hold the promise that the days of the dreaded pandemic may be numbered, even if widespread distribution doesn’t begin until spring of next year.