1/ I've covered the virus since May. Here's what scares me most:
The vaccines are coming. They'll be shipped starting tomorrow before 7 a.m. That's fantastic news. 2/
But it's going to take months — months — to reach Americans who are not frontline health care workers or people in long-term care facilities. Even then, we'll all need 2nd doses 3 weeks after the first. 3/
The thing is, even with all this fantastic news, the vaccines are going to take many, many months to reach whoever will take them 4/
We need somewhere around 60%ish (at minimum) from what I understand to reach some kind of herd immunity. But only half of Americans want to take a vaccine, according to this recent AP poll 5/ https://apnews.com/article/ap-norc-poll-us-half-want-vaccine-shots-4d98dbfc0a64d60d52ac84c3065dac55
Americans being unwilling to take a vaccine is a big problem, but worse, I believe, is that Trump is telling the country that everything is solved now. We're all about to be fine. We are not. Far from it. 6/
With so many Americans unwilling to wear masks or social distance, the virus is an out-of-control wildfire. One epidemiologist likened the vaccine to a firehose 7/
Imagine trying to put out a massive wildfire with a bunch of firehoses. It doesn't work. It helps, but doesn't kill the fire. Unless Americans start wearing masks & social distancing we are in big trouble for the foreseeable future, despite vaccines. This is what frightens me 8/8