Just 10 months since administration of the first COVID-19 vaccine dose, hundreds of millions of people worldwide have been inoculated. As of mid-August, more than 4 billion vaccine doses have been administered worldwide, and over 50% of eligible Americans are fully vaccinated.

While there is much work to be done to ensure access across the globe, the pace of progress over the last several months is breathtaking.

The incredibly fast development and rollout of the vaccines would not have been possible without the critical contributions of real-world evidence (RWE)—insights reflecting daily interactions with the healthcare system for millions of people, including those often excluded from randomized controlled trials (RCTs). These are people with different combinations of chronic illnesses, people over the age of 65, people representing various racial and ethnic backgrounds. People with limited incomes. People each of us know and care about.

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