With contributions from Center on Conscience & War

In 1917, the Selective Service Act created a system that authorized a draft and required all men of a certain age to register through the Selective Service System. AFSC was founded that same year to give conscientious objectors an alternative to military service as they faced the realities of a draft in World War I. 

We know that vaccinating as many people as possible is critical to end the COVID-19 pandemic. The emergence of the omicron variant shows the danger of world leaders’ inaction on vaccines for all. For all our safety, we need to allow more companies globally to manufacture vaccine doses.

Outside of the U.S. more than 3.5 billion people remain unvaccinated. For many, it’s not by choice. Low-income countries have received less than 1% of the nearly 8 billion shots that have been administered, according to the World Health Organization.