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The Government's Ham-Handed COVID-19 Messaging Has Hit a New Low
Townhall.com ^ | July 30, 2021 | Neil Patel

Posted on 07/30/2021 5:56:02 AM PDT by Kaslin

The U.S. government's inconsistent public messaging on the coronavirus came to a crescendo this week as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention abruptly reversed course on the use of masks by vaccinated people. The sudden backtracking follows a pattern of misleading and incoherent government health guidance that has led to a general erosion of trust in the CDC. Trust is, of course, paramount in a free country when trying to help the public make decisions about health matters. Our government does not seem to understand this simple concept.

Faced with a once-in-a-lifetime global pandemic that caused millions of deaths and massive economic loss worldwide, the U.S. government performed amazingly well in some areas. Operation Warp Speed will be studied for generations as a model for quick mobilization and deployment of emergency vaccines. It worked: The vaccines developed with massive taxpayer funding are amazingly effective and have essentially ended the pandemic for Americans willing to take them.

But due to a lack of trust in national institutions, many Americans don't want to take the vaccines. According to a new Ipsos poll for the online news site Axios, the three largest groups who are unlikely to get vaccinated are white Republicans mostly in the South, Black Americans and Hispanic Americans. Axios found some similarities among these groups: "They're most likely to say they don't consume traditional mainstream news, and they're most likely to distrust authority figures or institutions."

When you lose someone's trust, consistency is paramount to building it back. Here, the key is not to belittle those who don't want to take the vaccine but to explain carefully and rationally why the vaccine works and why the risks associated with it are minimal. There's a strong case to make.

The CDC's recent flip-flop, on the other hand, is just going to further erode people's confidence in the vaccines and thereby extend the virus's effective life. You can't argue that the vaccine is safe and will enable resumption of normal life, as the government has been, and at the same time tell people they still must continue wearing masks post-vaccination. The two are contradictory and self-defeating.

The reality is that the government's health guidance from the beginning has been as much about psychological gamesmanship as it has been about public health. This started from the very beginning of the pandemic when the then-surgeon general tweeted on Feb. 29: "Seriously people -- STOP BUYING MASKS! They are NOT effective in preventing general public from catching #Coronavirus."

Dr. Anthony Fauci and other officials made the same point. They followed that up months later by not just recommending masks but mandating them. We know now that the initial anti-mask argument was designed to save masks for the public health professionals who needed them most. You wonder if they ever considered just saying that. If they understood the importance of trust, they certainly should have.

The second area of government psychological gamesmanship was herd immunity, or the point at which enough people would be vaccinated to essentially snuff out the virus. Fauci initially said the U.S. would need 60-70% of people to be vaccinated in order to reach herd immunity, according to The New York Times. He later cited higher numbers of 75-80% or more in a CNBC interview in December. The Times asked him why he had been "moving the goal posts." Fauci revealed then that the true number may be close to 90% and that he wanted to keep his public estimates low because so many Americans were skeptical about the vaccine. As more people became comfortable with getting a vaccine, he was more willing to increase his estimate to the true projections, according to the Times.

There are numerous other examples of the government not being straight with the American people on COVID-19. No. 1: Outdoor transmission of the virus is extremely rare, yet government guidance suggested, and many communities required, masking -- even outside; No. 2: The risks from the virus for the young and healthy are extremely low, yet the government allowed schools all over the country to close, ostensibly to protect students; No. 3: Bans on travel and dining were flouted by the very same elected leaders pushing them. The list goes on.

The result of this gamesmanship is a reduction of national trust. The groups with the lowest trust levels are the hardest to win back. Studying all the mistruths leveled to date, it's hard not to wonder if the newest mask mandate isn't some misguided attempt to encourage vaccinated Americans to pressure the unvaccinated. The reason vaccinated people must wear masks again, according to the CDC, is essentially to protect those without vaccines from the new delta variant. But the evidence that vaccinated people are at risk is razor-thin. The CDC, in support of its new guidance, cited a study from India that concluded vaccinated people could potentially transmit the delta variant. The Indian study, however, involved a vaccine not even approved in the United States.

We have never had absolute safety as a public policy goal. Without risk, our society could not function. We wouldn't be able to drive. We would forgo most medical procedures. We would essentially never leave home. Risk-free makes no sense as a goal. The reality is those who have been vaccinated are very safe from COVID-19. Deaths from COVID-19 have plummeted, and nearly all are among those not vaccinated and in higher-risk groups. The obvious answer is to steadfastly educate those who haven't taken the vaccine, not force the entire country back into unreasonable restrictions.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial
KEYWORDS: flipflop; lockdown; maskmandate
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1 posted on 07/30/2021 5:56:02 AM PDT by Kaslin
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To: Kaslin

It is not “ham handed messaging” It is making “scientific driven” policy that has so many logical holes in it that you can fly airplanes through it


2 posted on 07/30/2021 5:57:52 AM PDT by BRL
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To: Kaslin
Americans mask:

The EUAs were KNOWINGLY illegal.
Why is no one in jail for fraud, or murder or genocide?



3 posted on 07/30/2021 5:59:07 AM PDT by Diogenesis (Tuitio Fidei et Obsequium Pauperum)
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To: All

“steadily educate the unvaccinated.”

Tell us more about that, comrades.


4 posted on 07/30/2021 6:04:49 AM PDT by Peter ODonnell (It's time we got serious about COVID-74 and COVID-92 and the Bulgarian variant and ...)
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To: Kaslin

Ever notice that the corrupt MSM isn’t screeching about Biden’s mishandling of all this? This is a total cluster, and everyone knows it, and not a peep about dementia Joe’s mishandling of all this?

Just imagine if Trump were in charge! This nation is a total cyclone disaster and, regrettably, things are trending worse and we got some guy supposedly in charge who is literally talking about his butt being wiped or so.

We’re in deep Kimshee. May God help us.


5 posted on 07/30/2021 6:05:45 AM PDT by Obadiah
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To: Kaslin

So they created a group of super-spreaders half the size of the population of the United States - OOPS!

I have a solution: To protect your loved ones, if you are vaccinated you need to lock down and stay in your house. Everyone who has natural immunity and has not been vaccinated can go outside without a mask as they are not super spreaders.

If saves just one life it will be worth it.

Also, if you see anyone you know that has been vaccinated disobeying these orders please report them to the local authorities so they can be forcibly quarantined.

We are all in this together and when everyone complies we will get over this.


6 posted on 07/30/2021 6:06:22 AM PDT by frogjerk (I will not do business with fascists)
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To: Kaslin
The sudden backtracking follows a pattern of misleading and incoherent government health guidance that has led to a general erosion of trust in the CDC.

There's a simple explanation for this and it's one we've all known since childhood….when you tell the truth it never changes but when you tell lies, the story will be inconsistent.

7 posted on 07/30/2021 6:08:09 AM PDT by liberalh8ter (The only difference between flash mob 'urban yutes' and U.S. politicians is the hoodies.)
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To: Diogenesis

Great find. Thanks.


8 posted on 07/30/2021 6:08:19 AM PDT by laplata
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To: Kaslin

.gov: Take the vaccine idiot! It is for your own good. Take it or we will shoot you!


9 posted on 07/30/2021 6:09:31 AM PDT by MtnClimber (For photos of Colorado scenery and wildlife, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)
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To: Diogenesis

Yeah, great stuff. Hang on to that.


10 posted on 07/30/2021 6:11:40 AM PDT by Obadiah
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To: BRL

It’s weaponized “science” designed to humiliate, alienate, isolate and grind you into submission.


11 posted on 07/30/2021 6:17:34 AM PDT by Noumenon (The Second Amendment exists primarily to deal with those who just won't take no for an answer. KTF)
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To: Kaslin

I thought that the ugly politicization of this virus would subside after they shoe-horned Biden into the Oval Office.

But that hasn’t happened. In fact, as the virus has progressed (despite the hype of the dreaded Delta variant) the caseload and death rate have subsided. This virus is now a big Nothing Burger. But the ugly politics of it just keep ramping up.

The stupidity and illogic is frightening. This sort of propaganda is very disturbing. This goes way beyond any sort of virus. The government knows that the sheeple can be manipulated. I have absolutely no doubt that if the government told people that Jews are polluting our national purity, a great many Americans would enthusiastically support the creation of Camps. We have become that sort of nation. If Don Lemon says it’s true, then gosh darn it, I believe it.

Rough times ahead.


12 posted on 07/30/2021 6:20:31 AM PDT by ClearCase_guy
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To: Kaslin
But due to a lack of trust in national institutions, many Americans don't want to take the vaccines

Kamal-hoe's "I wouldn't trust a Trump vaccine" doesn't have anything to do with it.

/s

13 posted on 07/30/2021 6:25:56 AM PDT by lightman (I am a binary Trinitarian. Deal with it!)
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To: Kaslin

It may be a “new low”, but with Democrats, there is no bottom to their lows. They are truly evil and constitute the most fundamental enemy to us.

Things will not improve until we treat them as such.


14 posted on 07/30/2021 6:26:03 AM PDT by Da Coyote
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To: Kaslin

Having government agencies determine a pandemic response is like sending the Keystone Cops out for riot control. Oh..........nevermind.


15 posted on 07/30/2021 6:28:29 AM PDT by Starstruck ( Since I'm old I don't whether I'm senile or brilliant. Or happily both.)
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To: Kaslin

Great photo op for Kamala to be at the border, handing out masks and offering rides to a vax center for all of the illegals the Border Patrol is testing to see if they are spreading Covid. Fauci could go along dressed like a Christmas elf to make the mood more festive.


16 posted on 07/30/2021 6:28:52 AM PDT by Bernard (The very best scientific articles always contain this phrase: “My personal intuition has been…”)
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To: Peter ODonnell

By telling us more lies to convince us that the lies we were told before are really true.


17 posted on 07/30/2021 6:32:23 AM PDT by Blood of Tyrants (“Unlimited power in the hands of limited people always leads to cruelty.” ― Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn)
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To: frogjerk
I have a solution: To protect your loved ones, if you are vaccinated you need to lock down and stay in your house. Everyone who has natural immunity and has not been vaccinated can go outside without a mask as they are not super spreaders.

The real irony in your statement is that is how they used to handle pandemics; the sick stayed home, not the healthy.

18 posted on 07/30/2021 7:54:23 AM PDT by Turbo Pig ('to close with and destroy the enemy")
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To: Kaslin

Here’s the science, Beer protects you from Covid. Now go forth and succeed.


19 posted on 07/30/2021 7:56:50 AM PDT by 1Old Pro (Let's make crime illegal again!)
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To: Obadiah
Original NIH Virology Journal article
20 posted on 07/30/2021 8:03:02 AM PDT by mikey_hates_everything
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