The CDC is providing information to us as things happen in a rapidly changing situation. It’s challenging enough without them being undermined. You have a public platform and you’re tearing down their credibility as a joke? You can do better than this.
It is a glaring fact that from the get-go communications from the CDC have been anything but satisfactory. This is due in large part to a novel and swiftly mutating virus which demands constant evaluation and adaptation to its evolutionary changes, and all the demands placed upon safety protocol policy development and promulgation.
IF the CDC has specialist staff responsible for public communication, it frequently fails spectacularly and does not demonstrate much capacity to learn/improve from failures. If there is no such staff presently employed to manage this task, it is well past time to hire one.
Preferably, staff which makes itself aware of all the components of the denialist, anti-mask, and anti-vaccine positions, and also makes itself aware of the host of quality methodology available to utilize as persuasive techniques.
The first thing to note, which should have been completely obvious to the CDC nlt March 2021, is that their target audience is little swayed by appeals to mercy, i.e. announcements of infection rates & resulting deaths/illness by themselves have almost zero influence upon that population.
There is no public display of video/photo’s showing intubation, people with tubes inserted lying unconscious on hospital beds, tubes being removed from the deceased as they are removed from hospital beds, no interviews with some of the survivors of weeks in Covid coma. The polio epidemic had crippled children in schools across the nation, crippled adults walking about in public: the outcomes of the disease were readily visible to one and all.
National and local governmental policy should have been, and still is, to lead with stories of death and disease outcomes, but very briefly before switching emphasis to the danger to businesses and the economy at large posed by failure to avoid/prevent lockdown.
It should have been stressed from the beginning that mask/social distance/vaccinate is a top economic priority, at least the equal of a health priority — while actually leaning most heavily on economic wellbeing.
That should have always comprised the bulk of public guidance messaging. But even more important, business health should have been relentlessly messaged to corporation/small business ownership through the right wing national/local Chamber of Commerce, from Congressional offices, from federal agencies, especially from the CDC both by public broadcast and through direct correspondence to ALL business entities, as well as via communication with state/county/municipal health departments.
This remains the prime policy goal the CDC/Biden administration needs to adopt ASAP.
The number 2 goal is to pound into the skulls of all of the above groups/individuals that this virus mutates really, really, REALLY quickly, and if an unvaccinated world population is available as an enormous scale petri dish for C-19 mutation, it is highly likely that a variation of the virus immune to vaccine mitigation capacity will evolve and reach every continent, country, state and municipality on the globe.
Ever hear of the Black Death? Wanna experience something like that?
Economic wellbeing is the only possible persuasive argument the vast, vast majority of conservatives (and non-conservative anti-mask/anti-vax Freedom Lovers) are capable of hearing.
For the time being, of course. If Delta’s peak, and resultant illness/death/hospital issues/economic loss come October hasn’t change sufficient hard-head minds, future worse variants than Delta are bound to at some point — after staggering (and sadly, avoidable) negative health/economic outcomes.
That’s when you’ll hear the present anti bunch whining that “they” didn’t tell us that “this” could happen, why don’t “they” come up with a vaccine, why are “they” so incompetent, it’s all “their” fault, and that only the most forceful conservative strongman stumping at that time is the one who can get us out of this, only he alone can fix it.
braindead Premium Member over 2 years ago
I don’t trust medical science so I’m not getting the vaccine but if I get COVID-19 I expect medical science to take care of me.
Ontman over 2 years ago
They have to learn on the go.
Foxcarver Premium Member over 2 years ago
lsnrchrd.1 Premium Member over 2 years ago
It is a glaring fact that from the get-go communications from the CDC have been anything but satisfactory. This is due in large part to a novel and swiftly mutating virus which demands constant evaluation and adaptation to its evolutionary changes, and all the demands placed upon safety protocol policy development and promulgation.
IF the CDC has specialist staff responsible for public communication, it frequently fails spectacularly and does not demonstrate much capacity to learn/improve from failures. If there is no such staff presently employed to manage this task, it is well past time to hire one.
Preferably, staff which makes itself aware of all the components of the denialist, anti-mask, and anti-vaccine positions, and also makes itself aware of the host of quality methodology available to utilize as persuasive techniques.
The first thing to note, which should have been completely obvious to the CDC nlt March 2021, is that their target audience is little swayed by appeals to mercy, i.e. announcements of infection rates & resulting deaths/illness by themselves have almost zero influence upon that population.
There is no public display of video/photo’s showing intubation, people with tubes inserted lying unconscious on hospital beds, tubes being removed from the deceased as they are removed from hospital beds, no interviews with some of the survivors of weeks in Covid coma. The polio epidemic had crippled children in schools across the nation, crippled adults walking about in public: the outcomes of the disease were readily visible to one and all.
lsnrchrd.1 Premium Member over 2 years ago
National and local governmental policy should have been, and still is, to lead with stories of death and disease outcomes, but very briefly before switching emphasis to the danger to businesses and the economy at large posed by failure to avoid/prevent lockdown.
It should have been stressed from the beginning that mask/social distance/vaccinate is a top economic priority, at least the equal of a health priority — while actually leaning most heavily on economic wellbeing.
That should have always comprised the bulk of public guidance messaging. But even more important, business health should have been relentlessly messaged to corporation/small business ownership through the right wing national/local Chamber of Commerce, from Congressional offices, from federal agencies, especially from the CDC both by public broadcast and through direct correspondence to ALL business entities, as well as via communication with state/county/municipal health departments.
This remains the prime policy goal the CDC/Biden administration needs to adopt ASAP.
The number 2 goal is to pound into the skulls of all of the above groups/individuals that this virus mutates really, really, REALLY quickly, and if an unvaccinated world population is available as an enormous scale petri dish for C-19 mutation, it is highly likely that a variation of the virus immune to vaccine mitigation capacity will evolve and reach every continent, country, state and municipality on the globe.
Ever hear of the Black Death? Wanna experience something like that?
lsnrchrd.1 Premium Member over 2 years ago
Economic wellbeing is the only possible persuasive argument the vast, vast majority of conservatives (and non-conservative anti-mask/anti-vax Freedom Lovers) are capable of hearing.
For the time being, of course. If Delta’s peak, and resultant illness/death/hospital issues/economic loss come October hasn’t change sufficient hard-head minds, future worse variants than Delta are bound to at some point — after staggering (and sadly, avoidable) negative health/economic outcomes.
That’s when you’ll hear the present anti bunch whining that “they” didn’t tell us that “this” could happen, why don’t “they” come up with a vaccine, why are “they” so incompetent, it’s all “their” fault, and that only the most forceful conservative strongman stumping at that time is the one who can get us out of this, only he alone can fix it.
Hello again, Middle Ages.
AndrewSihler over 2 years ago
Like a lot of people (alas) Sheneman doesn’t understand how science works. (He draws wonderfully, though, which is some consolation.)