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We need people to keep wearing masks until there is herd immunity for the simple facts that a) you can't tell who is vaccinated or not by sight, and b) social p
by thirtyseven 6y ago
We need people to keep wearing masks until there is herd immunity for the simple facts that a) you can't tell who is vaccinated or not by sight, and b) social pressure to wear them in public will collapse if X% of people stop wearing them.
- mensetmanusman 6y agoWhat they forgot is that pressure to get the vaccine has collapsed because the average person thinks there is no point. Public policy has to be smart.
- ummonk 6y agoAs long as we are constrained by vaccine supplies, it is rational to prioritize mask compliance rather than vaccine uptake.
- maxerickson 6y agoIt's likely a matter of weeks at this point, the messaging on masking shouldn't be undermining messaging on vaccination when that is the case. Maybe 60 million doses shipping in March vs a total of 75 million from the start through today. (Pfizer believes production rate will about double over the next couple of weeks, Moderna has been steadily increasing, J&J likely to get approved).
- ummonk 6y ago60 million doses is only enough to vaccinate 10% of the American population. Vaccines likely won’t be available for every adult who wants one until well into May.
- maxerickson 6y agoSure, I was pointing to the velocity increasing there more than thinking it was enough for everybody. Is the idea that if we have a couple months until wide availability we should have mask focused messaging for half the period regardless of how it impacts vaccination? Because in my mind, shots in arms are a lot more valuable than marginal mask behavior (which is already not that good because people have decided it's a serious infringement on their freedom).
- lbeltrame 6y agoI would rather have policy push for interventions that have a better impact on transmission. While the latest ECDC report[1] says "use them, can't hurt", it acknowledges the lack of evidence of masks (and thus effectiveness) in preventing transmission in a community settings. [1] https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/sites/default/files/documents/covid-19-face-masks-community-first-update.pdf https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/sites/default/files/documents/cov...
- josephcsible 6y ago> pressure to get the vaccine has collapsed Uh, no it hasn't. We don't have vaccines laying around going bad with nobody who wants them, but we do have plenty of people who want the vaccine who can't get it.
- mensetmanusman 6y agoLook at the surveys. Is that percentage high enough to achieve herd immunity?
- WalterBright 6y agoThat argument is political, not scientific. Exactly my point :-)
- ivirshup 6y agoI don’t think behavioral psychology counts as politics.
- WalterBright 6y agoPolitics is behavioral psychology.
- throwawayboise 6y agoIt doesn't really count as science either.
- war1025 6y agoCoronavirus policy has really helped me understand David Hume's point that you cannot derive and "ought" from an "is". You can't follow the science on something as complex as pandemics and lockdowns. There are too many tradeoffs that people will weigh differently.