Let's talk about the illusion of holding our breadth until a #coronavaccine appears and vanquishes Covid from the US.

When it comes to funding epidemic preparedness & response, the US puts most of its money into vaccines. Sure, vaccines are great. But they are blinding, too.

In my piece with @jefftollef, we found that pandemic preparedness obsesses over vaccines, but not on the activities that contain pandemics & save lives immediately, like clear communication, protective gear and test>trace>isolate. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-02277-6

It's worth noting that there was an Ebola vaccine throughout the second largest outbreak of Ebola in Congo. Tons of money went into distributing this vaccine, stored at -80, to >100,000 people. But... it was still the second largest outbreak!

I'm glad the Pfizer vaccine is on the horizon, but I fear that our undivided attention deludes people into thinking we can skip basic tenants of outbreak response: communication, protective gear, test>trace>isolate. This is essential in the months ahead & AFTER we have a vaccine.

A new piece by @TomBollyky helps explain why. First, communication & a solid public health response would help earn people's trust. You need that if people are going to take a vaccine. Tom gives flu vaccine rates, but the flu isn't politicized like Covid.

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/11/science-working-society-needs-step-up/617107/

Second, Covid will be with us for a long time. There will continue to be outbreaks in pockets where people aren't vaccinated. Or maybe the vaccine will be temporary, or not safe for certain groups of people. We need test>trace>isolate so that we can rapidly contain these bursts.