There's one point that I didn't seem to see in this excellent article. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
In addition to all the misinformation you so deftly lay out, there's also most people's erroneous idea that even a nasty case of Covid is nothing to worry about. It's much easier to condemn the very elderly and those with "pre-existing conditions" to a life of never-ending lockdowns (just stay home if you're in danger!) if the general population firmly believes that the virus will leave them with no long lasting sequelae, let alone long Covid.
This is the attitude I come up against constantly, even among people well into their 60s and 70s. They honestly, truly, deeply believe that they will be spared and that it's worse to miss out on a trip to Europe or a lovely restaurant meal or a wedding than to catch what they feel is, at most, a nasty flu. My 30-ish son says he doesn't know anyone who's been seriously affected by a Covid infection. My friend who's turning 70 in a few months is more worried about the health of people who drink too much or don't exercise regularly. They speak for almost everyone I know.
"Just wait, you'll see, if not this year, then maybe next year or just a few years down the road," or "I'm really concerned about the health of today's babies, who will have had Covid ten times or more before they turn 18" are arguments that get no traction whatsoever.
Needless to say, I don't go to parties anymore and in fact, I no longer see most of my "before times" friends. Just call me Debbie Downer.
Thanks for your great writing Julia! You're definitely on the right side of history.
Wish I'd written this. Thank you for compiling it. I say some version of at least one of your bullet points to someone nearly every day.
Yes, I'm super fun at parties. Oh, that's right, absolutely no one invites me to parties anymore because they know I'll refuse to attend unless they answer my minimal COVID-safety questions correctly.
Another misconception is that a surgical mask is effective enough to block infection. Even when masking is recommended or when HCWs agree to put on a mask, it's often a surgical. Dentists, whose masks are the only barrier between them and their maskless patients, don't normally wear N95s. And even when public health communications do recommend wearing masks (when symptomatic), they don't specifically mention respirators and sometimes use graphics depicting blue surgicals.
Thank you for this cogent summary of state of the pandemic. I'm forwarding it to a few people in my family who might benefit from it, as well as to a few who need their misconceptions debunked (it's a long way down those denialist rabbit holes, but I send it anyway).
Thanks for a fully fact based, practical review of the ongoing risks of catching COVID and how to analyze them. Unfortunately these considerations are not well known among the general public.
The only thing I'd add is that I don't agree with the framing that "vaccines don't prevent infection" because they do. I think it makes more sense to say "vaccines don't prevent infection completely" or "vaccines don't prevent infection at the rate many people seem to think they do". It's true they don't prevent it completely, but the article does detail the percentage at which they do. We don't say "airbags don't prevent injuries" because they don't do so at a rate of 100% with complete certainty. We don't say washing hands doesn't prevent the spread of illness because it doesn't do so with 100% success. That said, of course I think we need investment in new vaccines that are *more* effective with infection, hospitalization, death, etc.
I had no idea the high false negative rate of rapid tests. The stuff with one test being enough, testing when you feel sick, wearing a mask when you feel sick and maintaining social distancing when you see someone coughing is really because people don't care much about preventing infection. I don't think the people who take these minimal measures care about getting COVID. They cling to some vague guidance from years ago to feel like they're good liberals.
In addition to encouraging testing (and better tests), cleaner indoor air & masking, we need to encourage vaccines (and better vaccines).
Additionally, the whole point of vaccines might be moot as an abysmally small number actually get them—fewer than 1 in 4, and less than half of seniors. Giving liberals the benefit of the doubt that they’re simply misinformed is too generous: they’ve abandoned community care along with the right wingers.
They help a lot more if more people get them, but they still do offer individual protection of some sort. It'd be a lot better if nearly everyone got them. Unfortunately, I think you may be right about liberals not caring. I think they just want something to pretend they do.
My fear is that in addition to thinking Covid has no real long term consequences, that if it asymptomatic and testing/masking when symptomatic/staying home when sick isn’t enough, then what is the point of doing anything? I’d rather people do something of nothing. It think it is too big of a hurdle to expect everyone to go back to masking, although I wish we could.
We should take a lesson from the Republicans. You push for what you believe in. This idea of asking for less because it's the best we can expect doesn't work. It leads to failure and people not taking you seriously. Is the answer to not tell the truth to people about statistics? We can say "I appreciate that you're wearing a mask when you feel symptoms, but can you consider other ways of mitigating spread because you're often symptomatic before you're feeling anything".
I agree with you. What I unfortunately see is that people pick out the bits of any news that feeds into their own agendas and then go with it. It’s frustrating that the tests are no longer as reliable as before and all this gives more validity to the stance that covid is inconsequential. I’m all for us continuing to fight for covid awareness and public health as a responsibility of us all. I was expressing my fears not my beliefs:)
There's one point that I didn't seem to see in this excellent article. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
In addition to all the misinformation you so deftly lay out, there's also most people's erroneous idea that even a nasty case of Covid is nothing to worry about. It's much easier to condemn the very elderly and those with "pre-existing conditions" to a life of never-ending lockdowns (just stay home if you're in danger!) if the general population firmly believes that the virus will leave them with no long lasting sequelae, let alone long Covid.
This is the attitude I come up against constantly, even among people well into their 60s and 70s. They honestly, truly, deeply believe that they will be spared and that it's worse to miss out on a trip to Europe or a lovely restaurant meal or a wedding than to catch what they feel is, at most, a nasty flu. My 30-ish son says he doesn't know anyone who's been seriously affected by a Covid infection. My friend who's turning 70 in a few months is more worried about the health of people who drink too much or don't exercise regularly. They speak for almost everyone I know.
"Just wait, you'll see, if not this year, then maybe next year or just a few years down the road," or "I'm really concerned about the health of today's babies, who will have had Covid ten times or more before they turn 18" are arguments that get no traction whatsoever.
Needless to say, I don't go to parties anymore and in fact, I no longer see most of my "before times" friends. Just call me Debbie Downer.
Thanks for your great writing Julia! You're definitely on the right side of history.
Wish I'd written this. Thank you for compiling it. I say some version of at least one of your bullet points to someone nearly every day.
Yes, I'm super fun at parties. Oh, that's right, absolutely no one invites me to parties anymore because they know I'll refuse to attend unless they answer my minimal COVID-safety questions correctly.
Signed,
Still Rocking my Respirator
Do they ever answer them?
Yes. One friend told me I was selfish for not attending an indoor party during the winter surge two winters ago.
That same friend now invites me over when he knows everyone will be outside.
He's a handful.
To them, we're the handful 🤯😵
As usual, a great article!
Another misconception is that a surgical mask is effective enough to block infection. Even when masking is recommended or when HCWs agree to put on a mask, it's often a surgical. Dentists, whose masks are the only barrier between them and their maskless patients, don't normally wear N95s. And even when public health communications do recommend wearing masks (when symptomatic), they don't specifically mention respirators and sometimes use graphics depicting blue surgicals.
Another bullseye article. Many thanks, Julia. Best of health to you and us all.
I feel like she reads my mind and provides exactly what I need to share with others.
Excellent response and info to the current covid corp. media headlines.
The World Socialist Website still does excellent fact-based reporting on COVID https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2025/04/12/zpfo-a12.html
Thank you for this cogent summary of state of the pandemic. I'm forwarding it to a few people in my family who might benefit from it, as well as to a few who need their misconceptions debunked (it's a long way down those denialist rabbit holes, but I send it anyway).
Thanks for a fully fact based, practical review of the ongoing risks of catching COVID and how to analyze them. Unfortunately these considerations are not well known among the general public.
The only thing I'd add is that I don't agree with the framing that "vaccines don't prevent infection" because they do. I think it makes more sense to say "vaccines don't prevent infection completely" or "vaccines don't prevent infection at the rate many people seem to think they do". It's true they don't prevent it completely, but the article does detail the percentage at which they do. We don't say "airbags don't prevent injuries" because they don't do so at a rate of 100% with complete certainty. We don't say washing hands doesn't prevent the spread of illness because it doesn't do so with 100% success. That said, of course I think we need investment in new vaccines that are *more* effective with infection, hospitalization, death, etc.
I had no idea the high false negative rate of rapid tests. The stuff with one test being enough, testing when you feel sick, wearing a mask when you feel sick and maintaining social distancing when you see someone coughing is really because people don't care much about preventing infection. I don't think the people who take these minimal measures care about getting COVID. They cling to some vague guidance from years ago to feel like they're good liberals.
In addition to encouraging testing (and better tests), cleaner indoor air & masking, we need to encourage vaccines (and better vaccines).
Additionally, the whole point of vaccines might be moot as an abysmally small number actually get them—fewer than 1 in 4, and less than half of seniors. Giving liberals the benefit of the doubt that they’re simply misinformed is too generous: they’ve abandoned community care along with the right wingers.
They help a lot more if more people get them, but they still do offer individual protection of some sort. It'd be a lot better if nearly everyone got them. Unfortunately, I think you may be right about liberals not caring. I think they just want something to pretend they do.
My fear is that in addition to thinking Covid has no real long term consequences, that if it asymptomatic and testing/masking when symptomatic/staying home when sick isn’t enough, then what is the point of doing anything? I’d rather people do something of nothing. It think it is too big of a hurdle to expect everyone to go back to masking, although I wish we could.
We should take a lesson from the Republicans. You push for what you believe in. This idea of asking for less because it's the best we can expect doesn't work. It leads to failure and people not taking you seriously. Is the answer to not tell the truth to people about statistics? We can say "I appreciate that you're wearing a mask when you feel symptoms, but can you consider other ways of mitigating spread because you're often symptomatic before you're feeling anything".
I agree with you. What I unfortunately see is that people pick out the bits of any news that feeds into their own agendas and then go with it. It’s frustrating that the tests are no longer as reliable as before and all this gives more validity to the stance that covid is inconsequential. I’m all for us continuing to fight for covid awareness and public health as a responsibility of us all. I was expressing my fears not my beliefs:)