The fierce backlash to the CDC’s recent decision to shorten the recommended isolation period for people who test positive for Covid-19 was the latest in a series of communications blunders so severe that they have now become a meme.
Communication is an essential part of any public health response. But US health agencies have struggled with it since the very beginning of the pandemic, when government officials initially advised against wearing masks in early 2020 before reversing themselves to recommend nearly
It appeared the initial guidance may have been issued in order to preserve enough masks for health care workers. Government officials were warning at the time that hospitals’ supplies could be depleted at a critical moment if there was a run on masks. It was the first of the pandemic’s “noble lies,” The Week’s Ryan Cooper wrote in a blistering essay on the paternalistic treatment of the US public that has undermined the country’s Covid-19 response.
America’s public health institutions have failed to communicate effectively with the US public throughout the pandemic for two reasons: either they have been left trying to defend poor policies, or the messaging has taken the place of creating any kind of coherent policy at all
Read more at:
Why the CDC’s guidelines on isolation, boosters, and masks are so confusing - Vox
Showing posts with label confusing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label confusing. Show all posts
Sunday, February 6, 2022
Sunday, January 9, 2022
Coronavirus - a communication disaster: How Communication around COVID Fuels a Mistrust of Science - by Joseph V. Sakran
Throughout the pandemic, we have seen how inconsistent messaging around COVID has fueled doubt around science, giving place to consistently messaged misinformation that has found its way into communities all across America. This has undermined our ability to implement data-driven policymaking.
Even before the pandemic, science has been under attack with debates over whether climate change is real, whether tobacco or vaping causes lung damage, whether guns are associated with gun violence, and whether mental illness is simply a chemical imbalance or more broadly related to a bio-psycho-social model.
We have seen anti-vaccine sentiment prevail after Andrew Wakefield’s work linking autism to vaccines was published. Dozens of peer-reviewed studies have found exactly the opposite. Wakefield’s paper was retracted, and he’s been resoundingly discredited as a scientist, but the damage is done. Prior to COVID-19, we saw measles outbreaks reach their highest numbers since measles was all but eliminated. Why? Pockets of American communities, fearing autism, simply refused vaccination. Children died of a preventable disease.
As the pandemic continues, our public health agencies, starting at the very top, need to be reliable, evidence-driven, and consistent sources of information. But the CDC is not alone. Our top drug regulatory agency, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), has shown inconsistency that not only affects the general public, but everyone who is involved in health care delivery.
Read more at: How Communication around COVID Fuels a Mistrust of Science - Scientific American
Even before the pandemic, science has been under attack with debates over whether climate change is real, whether tobacco or vaping causes lung damage, whether guns are associated with gun violence, and whether mental illness is simply a chemical imbalance or more broadly related to a bio-psycho-social model.
We have seen anti-vaccine sentiment prevail after Andrew Wakefield’s work linking autism to vaccines was published. Dozens of peer-reviewed studies have found exactly the opposite. Wakefield’s paper was retracted, and he’s been resoundingly discredited as a scientist, but the damage is done. Prior to COVID-19, we saw measles outbreaks reach their highest numbers since measles was all but eliminated. Why? Pockets of American communities, fearing autism, simply refused vaccination. Children died of a preventable disease.
As the pandemic continues, our public health agencies, starting at the very top, need to be reliable, evidence-driven, and consistent sources of information. But the CDC is not alone. Our top drug regulatory agency, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), has shown inconsistency that not only affects the general public, but everyone who is involved in health care delivery.
Read more at: How Communication around COVID Fuels a Mistrust of Science - Scientific American
Saturday, May 15, 2021
International Travel: Vaccinated Travelers Face Chaos and Confusion - by Stephen Hiltner
More than 105 million people in the United States are fully vaccinated. Greece, Iceland and Croatia, among a growing list of countries, are now open to American tourists. Airlines are resuming overseas flights. And perhaps the biggest development of all: Come summer, fully vaccinated Americans will once again be welcome across Europe.
But the optimism may be premature. At the moment, the broader reality is more chaotic, and more sobering.<
Read more at: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/05/travel/covid-vaccinated-travel-reality.html
But the optimism may be premature. At the moment, the broader reality is more chaotic, and more sobering.<
Read more at: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/05/travel/covid-vaccinated-travel-reality.html
Wednesday, November 4, 2020
US Election 2020 - final results will be days off: Tighter than expected vote may take days to resolve
Mr Trump, a Republican, claimed to have won and vowed to launch a Supreme Court challenge, baselessly alleging fraud, while Mr Biden, a Democrat, said he was "on track" to victory.
Read more at: US Election 2020: Tighter than expected vote may take days to resolve - BBC News
Read more at: US Election 2020: Tighter than expected vote may take days to resolve - BBC News
Saturday, April 4, 2020
Monday, August 26, 2019
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