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With respect to covid, I remember it being said that washing your hands with soap was the most effective way to stop the virus spreading from physical contact. Yet the assumption that many people had was that alcohol based hand sanitizer was more effective. Sure, hand sanitizer is better than nothing, but old fashion soap and water was what the doctors recommended.

Thats my guess anyway.

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The heuristics that many people employ can be rather annoying. Another example regarding hand sanitizer:

They used hand sanitizer after picking up and eating a cookie. And I was probably a weirdo for not doing so. Greasy fingers are a problem, and I guess they see hand sanitizer as a substitue for hand-washing. But hand sanitizer doesn't wash anything away.

You didn’t always have access to a place to wash your hands or soap. Many Native Americans don’t have running water and sanitizer was needed badly, when they asked the government to help they got sent body bags instead

Many people did have access to running water, and were buying up supply that plausibly could have been used by people who didn't.

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