Coronavirus in the United States - news and thoughts

This strikes me as a lot of wishful and apologetic thinking. Most people who remain anti vax do so for identity or partisan reasons. Saying we could have simply put out some nice ads with different people and that would help is not consistent with any of what I saw during that period. Fauci was widely trusted, but eventually became villainized, and that started with Trump. So I guess we are supposed to change the face of our public messaging anytime when Trump or conspiratorial anti vaxers decide to smear the current person delivering the message?

Biden tried taking the high road, and then people dug in, and then Delta hit. By that point Biden had enough and decided less carrot and more stick, because carrot wasn't working. To a significant decree the stick did work and got a lot of people vaccinated who otherwise wouldn't have.

 

Given that democrats appear to have the highest vaccinations rates in the country (91%), that would be pretty much no offset, even if that 9% of unvaxxed all lived in the same red state. But the opposite effect is much more likely to occur with republicans in blue states.

 

Over 91% Democrats vaccinated, while only 60% Republicans have taken one shot, data reveals | US news | The Guardian

From December:

Over 91% Democrats vaccinated, while only 60% Republicans have taken one shot, data reveals

 

@mutz87 an unreceived message is not really fine. Thats akin to the coach always blaming the players. You keep drawing up plays until something works.

There has been no real shift in message. More of a re-hammering of the same nail.
For many folks it isnt political, but confused information from too many sources. The resources of the feds havent really tried to combat the bad info. Politicians and Fauci saying the same thing from their podiums hasnt worked. Continuing that is a bad strategy.

Marketing 101. If the message isnt hitting. Improve the message.

 

The CDC has become white noise. The majority of the population has moved on and pays them no mind.

 

I think the ship already sailed. There was no convincing people so vested in not being convinced--evident on TH as outside TH. Have a bunch in my family too who absolutely refuse even the most basic measures, and it's caused a big rift in my larger family. Sad really.

But what bothers and saddens me the most in equal measure are those who suddenly become regretful when they're facing the grim reaper and those who continue to defy that it's even covid that landed them on a ventilator. Either way, they both point to the problem.

And that problem wasn't created by the CDC, Fauci, Birx or anyone else genuinely trying to bring science to bear.

 

I see this as a cop out. (Not by you Mutz, but by leadership) this throw up your hands attitude. There is a message that would attract more people. Ive seen very litte effort to change course, to try different approaches.

Fauci has been the face since day one.
For better or worse, Fauci lost some trust early on with the mask stuff and a more trustworthy public face would have helped. Fauci would still be doing his work, but something as simple as a new public facing voice could have at least been attempted once the vax became available. If a business sees their marketing strategy flatline, they dont keep running the same strategy. The new one may not be amazing, but they at least try a new one.

 

It’s really a product of our 1st amendment freedom.

The disinformation peddlers have a sort of advantage, in that there is no penalty for lying under the 1st amendment (indeed for some there is even profit in generating faux outrage… provided they don’t actually step into criminal fraud territory), and on social media in particular “outrage” spreads far faster than truth. A viral lie spreads faster then some science guy spouting updates and numbers from a podium.

I’d rather our health officials not get engaged with nonsensical psy-ops type crap. They shouldn’t have to adjust for that in any way, perhaps not even bother doing media at all other than their official releases. Just stick to their messaging. It’s up to others to correct the bad actors. Such as the platforms themselves deciding at some level they don’t want to monetize bullshit. That’s up to them though.

 

When Trump himself is boo'd for suggesting people should be vaccinated, there is no good spokesperson or right message that would get through to these people. Just as there are none more blind than those that refuse to see, there are none more deaf than those that refuse to listen.

 

I don’t disagree that a lot of misinformation comes from people on the right but the fact remains that there is a large percentage of people who aren’t on the right who are not vaxxed and are perpetuating the same problems amongst themselves and their families that people on the left here complain about yet, like your post is doing, they are given cover just because they are more stealthy about it. In the end the results are the same. And the other reason I brought it up is in response to posts here stating a lack of concern for the deaths of the unvaccinated in order to give those posters an idea of just who it is they don’t care about.

 

pfft... math.

 

I find it funny the blame of "misinformation" from the right is the issue. Yet, who was right about lockdowns, school closures, Natural immunity and masks? Not the left that's for sure. I mean the CDC isn't even hiding the fact they are just a political entity at this point, amazing how the "science" changed right before the SOTU. Just a lucky timing...

 

Before 2020, most people would have attributed anti-vaxx movements to a small set of California hipster liberal moms who watch morning talk shows. The most “famous” anti-vaxxers were probably Jenny McCarthy and RFK.

I don’t think anyone attributes black populations to these anti-vaxxer movements, yet they’ve always had some extra hesitancy (vs. the general population) because of past abuses against them as a population, and that may have been passed down. So this is a parallel phenomenon for entirely different reasons (though all the general anti-vaxx and overwhelming right wing propaganda probably doesn’t help with these people either).

In 2020 something changed. Right wing politicians decided it would be politically useful to embrace these movements in order to muddy the waters. To bring anti-vaxxers under their tent. It lines right up with their attacks on science in general, a guy like Steve Bannon’s mission to “destroy the administrative state” (apparently to mean absolutely zero public health).

 

There is just no way that people should not question taking a new drug for a disease that is not that dangerous to them. I mean just shut up and get jabbed is the answer. All while the people saying shut up and get jabbed ignore the most basic science that has proven itself again with this disease in natural immunity. All while the people saying shut up and get jabbed call for masking kids in school and locking down communities. All while the people saying shut up and get jabbed push to coerce people into taking the jab instead of explaining why they should even with an understanding that some are low risk and that it is okay if they choose not to. All the while the shit up and get jabbed sold this drug as a way to not spread the virus while it was clear the vaccinated were getting and spreading the disease.

The shut up and get jabbed people have done generational damage to public health.

 

Blatantly selfish people who are quite willing to see 900,000 Americans die to make their political point now seem to scrambling to complain that all along it was just the "messaging" that was the core of the resistance. Sorry, you fight public health the entire time and you own the sad result.

 

I seem to remember a certain black female senator, now VP, and other Democrats who stated they would not get the vax or recommend anyone getting it if it came out during the Trump administration. I’m sure that was a large part of black and Hispanic hesitancy.

 

Gross gross-generalization and a strawman.

Give me examples of people saying "shut up" about vaccinations. The pro-science crowd on this site have been wonderfully tolerant when explaining the individual and community benefits of vaccinations.

Attacking a made up group is kinda weak but sadly well within your MO. Is this tactic the safe refuge for those that lose the same debate over and over again?

 

In a general sense I agree. But we are talking about American lives and the government messaging is important and IF a change in strategy can improve numbers than it IS their responsibility.

Ive seen very little change in visual messaging. We keep running the one guy out there that the doubters hate the most, and even the moderate types like me are a bit skeptical of for mixed messages early on.

Justified or not, many feel Fauci/CDC is/are not trustworthy. PR companies get paid big bucks to fix perception all the time.

 

I’ve heard some real wacky stuff from the right regarding COVID and vaccines. But I agree that the left has been over the top on lockdowns and masks by demanding things more for political reasons than common sense and science. From my point of view the whole thing has been one big cluster **** with plenty of blame to go around.