Re: Vaccine. I have had my first shot. I have friends who refuse to take the shot. CoV is contagious enough that everyone will contact it eventually. Absent total isolation, you simply cannot avoid it forever. So either you will be vaccinated or else you will get sick and hopefully recover. Either way, you are afterwards immune, at least for a while. Probably a long while. Whether you can then chuck the masks is a different question because the masks are much more than just protection, and not very good protection. Masks are a symbol, a meme if you will, and at being that they are very good indeed.
"But in order to ramp up interest in a vaccine, we need to show the public that it is, actually, the way back to normalcy."
Yes -- THAT'S a good message. In contrast to "It's going to save your life," which is just hyperbolic alarmism ( https://www.readtangle.com/p/bidens-executive-orders-reactions/comments ), it's accurate, and it appeals to people's sense not only of self-preservation but also of community and of altruism.
This new mRNA vaccine, developed in just two weeks, is a game changer in immunology. Too bad it targets The Rona, which is not really that serious a disease. If it were for, say, polio then perhaps more would take it. SARS-CoV-2 is an opportunistic virus that strikes mainly those who are about to die of something else. As you point out, the vaccine does not save their lives. They still die soon from that other thing. What we truly need now is a vaccine against closures, lockdowns, masks and social distancing, all serious and lasting damages from the pandemic. We need a vaccine against stupid. It would not be the way back to normalcy that you seek because stupid is the new normalcy.
Re: Vaccine. I have had my first shot. I have friends who refuse to take the shot. CoV is contagious enough that everyone will contact it eventually. Absent total isolation, you simply cannot avoid it forever. So either you will be vaccinated or else you will get sick and hopefully recover. Either way, you are afterwards immune, at least for a while. Probably a long while. Whether you can then chuck the masks is a different question because the masks are much more than just protection, and not very good protection. Masks are a symbol, a meme if you will, and at being that they are very good indeed.
"But in order to ramp up interest in a vaccine, we need to show the public that it is, actually, the way back to normalcy."
Yes -- THAT'S a good message. In contrast to "It's going to save your life," which is just hyperbolic alarmism ( https://www.readtangle.com/p/bidens-executive-orders-reactions/comments ), it's accurate, and it appeals to people's sense not only of self-preservation but also of community and of altruism.
This new mRNA vaccine, developed in just two weeks, is a game changer in immunology. Too bad it targets The Rona, which is not really that serious a disease. If it were for, say, polio then perhaps more would take it. SARS-CoV-2 is an opportunistic virus that strikes mainly those who are about to die of something else. As you point out, the vaccine does not save their lives. They still die soon from that other thing. What we truly need now is a vaccine against closures, lockdowns, masks and social distancing, all serious and lasting damages from the pandemic. We need a vaccine against stupid. It would not be the way back to normalcy that you seek because stupid is the new normalcy.