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I agree, but some don't.

Wish we had credible data and could use it for a clear message

I agree, but some don't.

Wish we had credible data and could use it for a clear message

The data on this one is clear and credible. It's not even close.

Here's just one example, quoted because I found it once before and know that VA tracks this: https://www.vdh.virginia.gov/coronavirus/covid-19-in-virginia/covid-19-cases-by-vaccination-status/

I read one post on FB that "millions have died because of the vaccine".  I don't know how to counter that.

Except that the policies are not all that different...

People have this perception that Florida is some crazy free-for-all Mad Max scenario where it's everyone for themselves dodging COVID at every turn, while California is on perpetual lockdown and all businesses are shuttered for the duration, and nobody leaves their house without a haz-mat suit.

But neither one is remotely true. I can tell you on the ground here in California that everyone is back to normal. Masks (at least in Orange County) are sparse, well under 50% in most stores. Businesses have been open for months and months. We really only had one real lockdown, when this first started--our governor attempted a second lockdown late in 2020 and everyone just stayed open in defiance. And on a personal note, people were seeing friends and family, unmasked, in their homes, pretty much the whole time.

Yet people think California and Florida are tremendously different, because the governors have different letters after their names denoting a political party.

Amen. 

We do have a clear message. Some people are just sticking their fingers in their ears and yelling "NANANANANANANANANA" because they don't want to hear it.

I think we have a reasonably clear message on the vaccine.

But we don't have a clear public health message to the general public.  Too much talk about masking and distancing and business closures versus being wide open.  The kind of stupid argumentative shit we see on this thread every day.

One clear message, is what we need.

And that message is, "Get the vax."

No more talk about masking, no more talk about distancing, no more talk about mandates or governor's executive orders or laws.  That is all just muddying the waters more, and allowing the "NANANANANA" people the opportunity to deflect, divert, and obfuscate.

There is only one message that should be spoken by any health official, public official, or politician:

Get vaccinated.

I wonder if a more concerted single message on thhe vax would do much, I think we're down to the hard core for the most part.

I'd guess any attempt to present statistics on how safe it is would be seen as a government/FDA plot to enrich Pfizer et al.

Yeah, and when the "NANANANANA" people didn't get vaccinated, then what's the message?

It SHOULD be IMHO, "well if you won't get the shot, you're on your own; if you die, you die".

But that's seen as cruel and heartless and politicians don't like to be portrayed that way. So we get a debate over how long to keep masking and distancing and making policies to protect the stubborn and the stupid.

The reason we have all these other messages is BECAUSE people didn't get the vax, and it appears they won't get the vax.

Yeah, beyond the vax, there can be no message.  It's over.

Effectively, we're already there in a lot of places. Personally, I'm not wearing a mask anywhere, unless the owners of an establishment have a sign posted that it's required.  And, nobody posts such a sign, not down here.

The virus will do what it does.  Hopefully we don't overwhelm the hospital system.  But the public health concern is effectively over at this point.