A top US vaccine researcher says he doesn't 'blame' unvaccinated people for their skepticism: 'I can see where it can be extremely confusing'

Rick Bright's entire career has been focused on Pandemics. How to prevent the spread of diseases. How to prepare for a disease. How to survive the Pandemics. And, of course, how to get a vaccine.

Bright blew the whistle on the US government's endorsement of COVID-19 treatments in 2020.

He said that inaccurate information about the virus was dangerous and caused lives to be lost.

In a new book detailing how people rushed to profit off the COVID-19 outbreak, author and investigative journalist David McSwane maps out the lack of national preparedness that laid the foundation for such corruption to take place. He shared a heartbreaking story of how Bright's mother died after being exposed to an unvaccinated relative who was sick with COVID-19 in the summer of 2021.

McSwane said that his new book is a story about America. I wish we behaved better and cared more for each other. We would have done better. We would have more family members around.

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Bright told McSwane that he doesn't blame the unvaccinated people because they have gotten so much misinformation.

Bright said politics, unclear guidance, and bad actors bred confusion and skepticism.

For McSwane, a journalist who had been covering the epidemic for two years, Bright's compassion for his unvaccinated family members was a much-needed beacon of hope.

McSwane said that they need an attitude that remembers that it is ok to be wrong. It is possible to change your mind. It is okay to disagree. At the very least, you need to have some kind of understanding.

There are many reasons for vaccine hesitancy in the US — mistrust is a driving factor behind several of them 

According to surveys by the Kaiser Family Foundation, some unvaccinated Americans skipped shots because they worried that the vaccines required insurance. Others had concerns about whether the vaccines were really safe and well-tested, or if there might be long term vaccine side effects that would only appear years in the future.

Some of the concerns have waned over time. Many people who were wary of the vaccine have since received it. Almost all of the adults in the US have had at least one shot. Those who haven't gotten shots tend to be younger and lean Republican more often than not.

Bright held fast to hope and understanding after his mom died.

McSwane said that his entire idealism should be torched. I understand why they feel that way. The government was confusing and we didn't handle it correctly.