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Comment by mensetmanusman | Hacker News Reader

What 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.

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> 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.

Look at the surveys. Is that percentage high enough to achieve herd immunity?

As long as we are constrained by vaccine supplies, it is rational to prioritize mask compliance rather than vaccine uptake.

I 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/cov...

It'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).

60 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.

Sure, 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).

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