Sorry, America. Vaccines won’t end the pandemic anytime soon.

With more than 240,000 Americans dead from the COVID virus and far more hospitalized, our country is desperate for a vaccine that prevents serious cases. Billions of dollars in taxpayer money are being spent to put a stop to the virus, yet drug companies are using predominantly mild cases that produce cold-like symptoms, not infections or serious cases, to test the efficacy of their vaccines. Based on the reviews of trial protocols for seven leading vaccine candidates, including those from Moderna and Pfizer, the British Medical Journal (BMJ) wrote last month that “none of the [COVID] vaccine trials are designed to detect significant reduction in hospital admissions, admission to intensive care, or death.” Can these vaccines stop the pandemic?