The first two paragraphs
Few Americans have received the latest vaccines against the coronavirus: Just over 7 percent of adults and 2 percent of children had received the shot as of Oct. 14, according to a survey presented on Thursday to scientific advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The uptake is weak even among those most at risk of severe illness. Only one in five people age 75 or older has been vaccinated, along with about 15 percent of those ages 65 to 74, according to the survey of nearly 15,000 people.
I guess in an alternate universe - liberals are "uncertain" if seatbelts, airbags, crumble zones, etc are worthwhile because they add to the cost of a vehicle.
I still can't believe that - as far as I know - Biden's infrastructure bill budgeted effectively nothing for filtration and ventilation. And - of course - the bill was passed during a literal fucking epidemic. It seems to me that a fundational purpose of a federal government is to keep the public safe. In a simple phrase "planning ahead" is key.
Biden and the dems didn't "follow the science" on this. They did exactly the opposite. They wanted people to sleepwalk though covid so they followed the politics. And they've done that for so many other things as well. Eventually - there will be another pandemic. And if we don't have vaccine solution like we did this time - Biden/dem non-actions on filtration and ventilation will likely help lead to awful outcomes. It's all insane.
The top-down (trickle-down if you will), government-led approach has been an absolute failure and will continue to fail to protect people in every regard. What I mean is that we need ground-up initiatives. We need people choosing to mask, socialize carefully, and vaccinate not because the government says to or makes it easy, but because that's what our communities need to do to survive. We need individuals to mask and spread awareness that the pandemic is not over, that the media is lying, and that people need to do more to protect themselves.
Things are very bad. Most people are taking no measures to protect themselves. BUT we should not give up. Each infection prevented is a win. Each infection/reinfection can lead to disability or death of the person infected and to all the people they spread it to and all the people those people spread it too. So, preventing even one infection can actually do a lot to save a lot of lives and to save a lot of people from being disabled.
It's hard to see it because if you save someone's life by wearing a mask you're not going to get any feedback that that person was saved because of you. Since Covid-19 can spread asymptomatically, you won't necessarily know when you are sick and infectious. But wearing a mask even when you don't feel sick can keep you from spreading it to other people, and not spreading it to other people can save their lives.
It's important to remember that the little things we do can have an impact on a greater scale. Part of the reason the government was so keen to drop masking is that it's a visual sign that something is different from the status quo they've worked so hard to establish. People are being constantly bombarded with propaganda that the pandemic is over, but eventually, some people are going to notice that their families, friends, and coworkers are still getting sick. By holding out and continuing to protect ourselves, we can convert people over time. Some people are bound to have a reawakening. To realize "oh, those weirdos who kept masking after I thought the pandemic was over were right all along." We need to build a ground-up movement. Things are bad but even small measures make a difference. Even one infection prevented is worth it.