the fact that we saw the largest vaccine rollout in history, like 10 billion doses administered, there were almost no serious side effects, and the result was a large increase in anti-vaccine paranoia is proof of the power of propaganda

Someone posted that maskless photo of Pence at the Mayo clinic earlier today, and I feel like it's far underestimated the number of people in the US who are all in on "God will protect me personally." Some people need a virus to have a moral dimension.

Agreed. I do wish more experts would rely on pediatricians for techniques to fight it. We’ve been fighting this propaganda wayyy before COVID. It’s not as new for us.

My conspiracy theory about conspiracy theories involves looking at past evidence of deliberate manipulation of the gullible paranoid within the population. It has already happened, no indication that it has stopped. digitalarchive.wilsoncenter.org/document/kgb...

I am painfully aware of how insistently stupid these people are, even in the face of existential threats, but I think that most of them (not all) would wrestle their way to front of the vaccine lines if the fatality rate were to reach even 5 percent (about 5x Covid).

What the anti-vax folks learned is that the only thing white centrists hate more than dying of easily prevented diseases is having to win at dirty filthy politics

Alas, humans don't have a great instinctive grasp of math. Vaccinate a hundred million people and you can guarantee that some impressive number of people will get dick cancer right after being vaccinated and people will draw a specious connection.

For the record: There were pretty serious side effects, thrombosis and long covid-like post vac. But they were extremely rare and the postive effects, the millions lives saved, by far outweight these side effects. But for those affected by these side effects it's devasting. (Nuanced reporting ...)

Exactly. This was a test run for viruses. If we had a virus that is more deadly and more contagious then this country is finished.

I'm convinced this would have been a smaller problem by magnitudes, if the vaccine would have been delivered by pill or on a sugar cube. Vaccination by syringe will always have a "marketing problem".

Government blew a lot of medical goodwill when people did what was right... rolled up their sleeves and got a few vaccines... and then still got COVID numerous times.