07-11-2020, 06:19 AM
Not to make you feel worse, but it seems to me putting all our eggs in the vaccine basket is a bad idea. Americans in particular are usually looking for the “magic pill” solution. Too many don’t want to put in the work and make the sacrifices needed to effectively solve problems.
The odds a vaccine will work are extremely low, IMO. First, it has to work over an extended period of time. Given we see strong evidence antibodies don’t last long, this is my number one reason for skepticism. But let’s assume a vaccine works for one year before needing another dose. Then, you need it produced at scale. Then you need people willing to get it. Then you need to pay for it. Look how many people won’t wear a damn mask, and I’m suppose to believe enough will take a vaccine to get herd immunity from something they don’t see as a big deal?
The only way out of this disaster is federal intervention. Mass testing on a scale we haven’t seen. Federal mask requirement. Setting up quarantine centers to isolate all infections. A National app for people to check in to any place they go, so contact tracing and effective quarantining can be done. The dirty little secret is if you do these things, only probably bars need to remain closed until infection rates drop and everything can re-open much sooner than if these steps aren’t taken.
The net of this is we all have to be New Zealand and China. The way you stop the virus is drive it to extinction by reducing its spread, preventing spread, and knowing where it is. When community spread is under control, require all travelers on international entry to get tested when they arrive, and require them to use the app for checking in too. The solutions are not easy, but they are absolutely doable if we stop being stupid and use the power of the United States to its potential. If we don’t eradicate the virus by changing our behavior, we might face living with it forever.
It’s frankly outrageous that we have 10 nuclear Air Craft Carriers, dozens of subs, ICBMs, hundreds of fighters and bombers, tanks, artillery pieces, shells, bombs, electronic warfare, and thousands of soldiers and commanders to protect us, but we can’t stop a minuscule strand of RNA.
The odds a vaccine will work are extremely low, IMO. First, it has to work over an extended period of time. Given we see strong evidence antibodies don’t last long, this is my number one reason for skepticism. But let’s assume a vaccine works for one year before needing another dose. Then, you need it produced at scale. Then you need people willing to get it. Then you need to pay for it. Look how many people won’t wear a damn mask, and I’m suppose to believe enough will take a vaccine to get herd immunity from something they don’t see as a big deal?
The only way out of this disaster is federal intervention. Mass testing on a scale we haven’t seen. Federal mask requirement. Setting up quarantine centers to isolate all infections. A National app for people to check in to any place they go, so contact tracing and effective quarantining can be done. The dirty little secret is if you do these things, only probably bars need to remain closed until infection rates drop and everything can re-open much sooner than if these steps aren’t taken.
The net of this is we all have to be New Zealand and China. The way you stop the virus is drive it to extinction by reducing its spread, preventing spread, and knowing where it is. When community spread is under control, require all travelers on international entry to get tested when they arrive, and require them to use the app for checking in too. The solutions are not easy, but they are absolutely doable if we stop being stupid and use the power of the United States to its potential. If we don’t eradicate the virus by changing our behavior, we might face living with it forever.
It’s frankly outrageous that we have 10 nuclear Air Craft Carriers, dozens of subs, ICBMs, hundreds of fighters and bombers, tanks, artillery pieces, shells, bombs, electronic warfare, and thousands of soldiers and commanders to protect us, but we can’t stop a minuscule strand of RNA.