The American Hospital Association, American Medical Association and American Nurses Association sent an open letter to the American public Dec. 1 pledging to ensure all COVID-19 vaccines are evaluated and authorized through rigorous scientific processes and to be transparent about their risks and benefits.
The organizations said that for a COVID-19 vaccine to achieve similar results as vaccines for chickenpox or polio, Americans have to trust in the development process of the vaccine and be willing to be vaccinated.
The AHA, AMA and ANA are committed to following the science and establishing safe and effective processes for administering the vaccines, they wrote.
"Until our population has been broadly immunized, we continue urging that you protect yourself and others from the virus by taking three critical, scientifically proven steps to prevent the spread of COVID-19: wear a face mask, maintain physical distancing, and wash your hands. These actions remain essential," the organizations wrote.
Read the full letter here.