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  1. Wall Street JournalMarty Makary4 min
    25 reads15 comments
    9.4
    Wall Street Journal
    25 reads
    9.4
    You must read the article before you can comment on it.
    • Florian2 years ago

      Such an important read!

      • Karenz2 years ago

        In my experience living out here in the mountains in Trumpville, no amount of data from any source is going to convince a significant portion of antivaxers to get vaccinated.

        • Florian2 years ago

          And that’s fine. Let it be everyone’s choice. People get too worked up about what other people do 🤷‍♂️

          • Karenz2 years ago

            It’s not really ok. Our county in MD has the smallest population but the highest number of Covid hospitalizations and deaths. Our local hospital is overrun with Covid cases and are having to send ambulances to hospitals more than an hour away. This is no more of a choice than the polio vaccine was but it has been so politicized that people can’t think rationally.

            • Florian2 years ago

              Sounds like life over there in your place is rough. I’m sorry to hear.

              • Karenz2 years ago

                Florian, thanks for your response. It’s likely no worse than other places but has different issues because we’re rural. What I love about Readup is learning so many things I wouldn’t otherwise be exposed to. What we love about where we live is the nature all around us here in the mountains where deer will literally walk down our street and graze on our lawns.

                • Florian2 years ago

                  I live in rural Queensland in Australia. Our state had 3 new cases today. None hospitalised. This is why my perspective is usually quite different to those who are surrounded by the pandemic

                  • Karenz2 years ago

                    Sounds like your rural area is handling it much more wisely than ours! Trump politicized the whole issue of vaccines here.

    • turtlebubble2 years ago

      I’ve been really curious about this. I had 3 positive blood tests for high levels of antibodies over the past year. I never felt very sick but clearly caught and fought covid at some point in 2020. I’m not an antivaxer nor a covid denier but I don’t like the feeling of being forced to get something with side effects if it’s unnecessary for me personally. I understand the interest in a blanketed approach but I do agree that had the CDC trusted the public with the more complete and nuanced data, there would have been potential for more overall trust in the CDC and the vaccine in general.

      • SEnkey2 years ago

        Amen. We see this over and over again, public officials should trust us with the best knowledge they have and NOT try to guide our decisions based on what they choose to tell us. Most people will do what is best for them and overall we will get a good result.

        I've been involved in a lot of emergency response situations (hurricanes, flooding, wild fires, and that one time a tiger got out of the zoo). Almost always there is a group present on the ground, un supervised by any official team, getting things done and effectively managing a response. The Cajun Navy is a recent example.

        This isn't an argument against official teams and responses, it is just an argument for sharing data and being transparent about what you do and don't know. I thought the Mayor of New Orleans did a great job of this recently. She said, we are recommending you shelter in place - here are the facts, x-y-z-, we would recommend evacuating but we don't think everyone can get out in time ie Go for it if you want, but there is a risk of being caught on the road. She didn't try to tell people the storm wouldn't be a big deal, she told the truth.

      • DellwoodBarker2 years ago

        Yes!! It is so refreshing to read this here. Balanced and centered view, imho.

    • thorgalle
      Top reader this weekScoutScribe
      2 years ago

      More data transparency and policy responsiveness sounds good. I’m inclined to believe the writer’s arguments on immunity too, but he’s study-picking himself: one supposedly rigorous “pro natural immunity” study, and one supposedly hand-picked contra study from Kentucky. Were these the only studies on natural immunity? Which way do most studies lean?

    • jeff2 years ago

      Couldn't agree more with this piece.

      In a sample of more than 700,000 people, natural immunity was 27 times more effective than vaccinated immunity in preventing symptomatic infections.

      Despite this evidence, U.S. public health officials continue to dismiss natural immunity, insisting that those who have recovered from Covid must still get the vaccine.

      This is 2 + 2 = 5 shit.

      • DellwoodBarker2 years ago

        🙌💯🙌

      • Florian2 years ago

        Yes! 💯💯💯💯💯💯 I was going to point out the exact same