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Comment by setpatchaddress | Hacker News Reader

You're assuming distribution will work fairly and optimally. That's very unlikely, especially because the initial rollout will still be overseen by the Trump admin.

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You’re assuming that everyone talks about the USA, but they probably don’t.

I find this on the internet, though usually reddit rather than here. I am forever asking folks if they mean the US, and trying to explain to them that there is... a rest of world

America is the largest (primarily) English speaking community in the world and both Reddit and YC are US companies. It's not surprising some assume the whole audience is American.

The US accounts only for about 10% of English speakers in the world.

Honestly it's kind of hard to know what the audience for a site might be. If people are active during your hours and in your language, the assumption is easy to make.

Oh boy, do I hope we don't talk about the US in 2021, anymore. It's been like a slightly different, ever the same car crash you drive by, every day. For four fucking years. I am sure my dopamine receptors look like old, all dries up raisins by now. I wish we as a species could agree stop all news for year or ten. Detox and heal, form new habits like life has value and shit.

It will be overseen by the individual states in the US.

You mean the admin that funded and fast-tracked the development and trials?

You mean the admin that encouraged people not to wear masks? The one that downplayed the virus at every opportunity? The one that held rallies without masks required, but still had people sign waivers in case they got sick?

Is it that one, or some other administration you’re thinking of?

You have a good counter. To add to "don't wear masks" though - WHO, CDC, Fauci all had poor and inaccurate guidance as well. It's like none of these experts have sane defaults when they don't know about something. Kind of hard to believe, really.

Then when they're wrong - they say "oh yeah we lied, we didn't want a run on masks for health workers". Such BS. They didn't know non-surgical/non-(k)n95 masks could be useful.

It's ok to admit when you're wrong. Better than saying you lied. Especially when there's enough distrust of government.

The US administration is culpable. But so are the experts. People need to be able to trust their experts.

Separately - I find it ridiculous we have people that are all about science, except when their agenda conflicts.

We end up with exceptions for religion. Exceptions for protests. Exceptions for filming movies. Whatever. If you have enough influence or can cause enough outrage about something you can get your way.

Nobody has the balls to take hard stances. They create these illogical plans based on who is influencing them.

Is there any official who was consistent and pragmatic with their pandemic plan?

The CDC officially recommended the use of face masks in public places on April 3.

That was forever ago and only a few weeks into the US crises(couple weeks after first lockdowns started). There absolutely was a PPE shortage at the time, and there absolutely was new information coming in about the efficacy of wearing non N95 masks. That's a lot of attribution to malice or incompetence for such a dynamic situation that shaped up in such a relatively short amount of time..

Meanwhile the current admin had their last maskless rally what, just in the past week or so?

My point is that if you're an expert that people are supposed to trust - you shouldn't make statements about things you don't know yet.

You seem to be ok glossing over that because you want to talk about the current admin when I'm not even talking about that. I agree with the culpability there.

Fauci - In March he said "there's no reason to be walking around with a mask" [1] The CDC and WHO were doing the same.

Also regarding the lie, "“We were concerned the public health community, and many people were saying this, were concerned that it was at a time when personal protective equipment, including the N95 masks and the surgical masks, were in very short supply,” Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and public face head of the federal government’s coronavirus response, told The Street in an interview this week." [2]

You can go utilitarian if you want and say that's cool. Maybe you are ok with them lying to you because you believe them and think that was their only option. My point stands that there's enough distrust of the government. I don't believe they should do that, connect a lie to experts we are supposed to trust, and I don't believe that was their only option to prevent a shortage.

A lot of incompetence.

#1 not having enough masks in the first place, replenishing our supply

#2 talking about things they don't know and

#3 because they were incorrectly claiming cloth masks weren't useful for the public, they ended up parlaying that into a lie to try and prevent a shortage.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23hvLiA2akE

[2] https://www.msn.com/en-us/tv/news/dr-fauci-admits-feds-initi...

No, they mean the administration that still hasn't provided for adequate PPE, that turned down the offer of another 100 million doses of the 95% efficacy Pfizer vaccine, which is available now, and instead bought 300 million doses of the Astra-Zenica 62% efficacy vaccine, which does not meet the task force's minimum efficacy requirements and will not be available until summer.

Wasn't minimum efficacy 50% or greater?

seriosuly? You're arguing that what they did was OK because it was a little above minimum rather than going after the stuff that will help people in the US? They bought 300 million doses of a vaccine that is more relivant to the developing world.....

And even then, the first vaccine to be approved wasn't part of the warp speed program.

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