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E. Thomas Ewing In October 1918, as the influenza epidemic gripped the United States, Roanoke pharmacists sold out of a serum advertised to prevent pneumonia infections. Even as demand soared, Dr. Brownlee Foster, Roanokeâs Health Officer, offered âno positive recommendationâ on a treatment declared âreputableâ by the Virginia State Board of Health. The desperate search for a vaccine in 1918 is suggestive of our experience in 2020. Both epidemics have seen a remarkable number of cases, hospitalizations, and deaths, while public health measures have constrained normal behaviors, produced economic distress, and generated considerable anxiety. Whereas health officials, physicians, and pharmacists in 1918 endorsed unproven treatments, we should be reassured by the regulation, transparency, and consistency that have characterized vaccine development in 2020. ....