We want kids safely back into classrooms and workers safely back into offices and factories. We want to be able to visit our loved ones for holidays and return to restaurants, bars, and gyms. We want our quality of life to improve, and along with it, our collective mental health. 

This isn't as remote a dream as it can sometimes feel – especially when we are shuttered at home, watching as rates of the virus increase, in some places for the second time. Several vaccines are on the verge of being approved by regulators – meaning that we could soon be able to provide people with immunity and quash rates of the virus in their current numbers. But as we wait for a vaccine roll-out with anticipation, there are still important questions to consider. Who will have access to these vaccines? How can we reduce the number of people contracting the virus in the meantime? And if we do get a vaccine, how will we know who needs it?