Experts : US Cannot Reach 'Herd Immunity'
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
There is consensus among scientists and public health experts that the herd immunity threshold is not attainable in the US, The New York Times reports
Reaching ‘ Herd Immunity ’ Is Unlikely in the US Widely circulating coronavirus variants & persistent hesitancy about vaccines will keep the goal out of reach. The virus is here to stay, but vaccinating the most vulnerable may be enough to restore normalcy
Reaching ‘Herd Immunity’ Is Unlikely in the U.S., Experts Now Believe
Widely circulating coronavirus variants and persistent hesitancy about vaccines will keep the goal out of reach. The virus is here to stay, but vaccinating the most vulnerable may be enough to...
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Reaching ‘Herd Immunity’ Is Unlikely in the U.S., Experts Now Believe - The New York Times (nytimes.com)
Early in the pandemic, when vaccines for the coronavirus were still just a glimmer on the horizon, the term “herd immunity” came to signify the endgame: the point when enough Americans would be protected from the virus so we could be rid of the pathogen and reclaim our lives.
Now, more than half of adults in the United States have been inoculated with at least one dose of a vaccine. But daily vaccination rates are slipping, and there is widespread consensus among scientists and public health experts that the herd immunity threshold is not attainable — at least not in the foreseeable future, and perhaps not ever.
Instead, they are coming to the conclusion that rather than making a long-promised exit, the virus will most likely become a manageable threat that will continue to circulate in the United States for years to come, still causing hospitalizations and deaths but in much smaller numbers.
How much smaller is uncertain and depends in part on how much of the nation, and the world, becomes vaccinated and how the coronavirus evolves. It is already clear, however, that the virus is changing too quickly, new variants are spreading too easily and vaccination is proceeding too slowly for herd immunity to be within reach anytime soon.
Continued immunizations, especially for people at highest risk because of age, exposure or health status, will be crucial to limiting the severity of outbreaks, if not their frequency, experts believe.
“The virus is unlikely to go away,” said Rustom Antia, an evolutionary biologist at Emory University in Atlanta. “But we want to do all we can to check that it’s likely to become a mild infection.”
The shift in outlook presents a new challenge for public health authorities. The drive for herd immunity — by the summer, some experts once thought possible — captured the imagination of large segments of the public. To say the goal will not be attained adds another “why bother” to the list of reasons that vaccine skeptics use to avoid being inoculated.
Yet vaccinations remain the key to transforming the virus into a controllable threat, experts said.
Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the Biden administration’s top adviser on Covid-19, acknowledged the shift in experts’ thinking.
“People were getting confused and thinking you’re never going to get the infections down until you reach this mystical level of herd immunity, whatever that number is,” he said.
“That’s why we stopped using herd immunity in the classic sense,” he added. “I’m saying: Forget that for a second. You vaccinate enough people, the infections are going to go down.”
Early on, the target herd immunity threshold was estimated to be about 60 to 70 percent of the population. Most experts, including Dr. Fauci, expected that the United States would be able to reach it once vaccines were available.
But as vaccines were developed and distribution ramped up through the winter and into the spring, estimates of the threshold began to rise. That is because the initial calculations were based on the contagiousness of the original version of the virus. The predominant variant now circulating in the United States, called B.1.1.7 and first identified in Britain, is about 60 percent more transmissible.
As a result, experts now calculate the herd immunity threshold to be at least 80 percent. If even more contagious variants develop, or if scientists find that immunized people can still transmit the virus, the calculation will have to be revised upward again.
Polls show that about 30 percent of the U.S. population is still reluctant to be vaccinated. That number is expected to improve but probably not enough. “It is theoretically possible that we could get to about 90 percent vaccination coverage, but not super likely, I would say,” said Marc Lipsitch, an epidemiologist at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
Though resistance to the vaccines is a main reason the United States is unlikely to reach herd immunity, it is not the only one.
Herd immunity is often described as a national target. But that is a hazy concept in a country this large.
“Disease transmission is local,” Dr. Lipsitch noted.
“If the coverage is 95 percent in the United States as a whole, but 70 percent in some small town, the virus doesn’t care,” he explained. “It will make its way around the small town.”
Uneven Willingness to Get Vaccinated Could Affect Herd Immunity
In some parts of the United States, inoculation rates may not reach the threshold needed to prevent the coronavirus from spreading easily.
Estimated share of adults who would
“definitely” or “probably” get the vaccine
How insulated a particular region is from the coronavirus depends on a dizzying array of factors.
Herd immunity can fluctuate with “population crowding, human behavior, sanitation and all sorts of other things,” said Dr. David M. Morens, a virologist and senior adviser to Dr. Fauci. “The herd immunity for a wealthy neighborhood might be X, then you go into a crowded neighborhood one block away and it’s 10X.”
Given the degree of movement among regions, a small virus wave in a region with a low vaccination level can easily spill over into an area where a majority of the population is protected.
At the same time, the connectivity between countries, particularly as travel restrictions ease, emphasizes the urgency of protecting not just Americans but everyone in the world, said Natalie E. Dean, a biostatistician at the University of Florida in Gainesville. Any variants that arise in the world will eventually reach the United States, she noted.
Many parts of the world lag far behind the United States on vaccinations. Less than 2 percent of the people in India have been fully vaccinated, for example, and less than 1 percent in South Africa, according to data compiled by The New York Times.
“We will not achieve herd immunity as a country or a state or even as a city until we have enough immunity in the population as a whole,” said Lauren Ancel Meyers, the director of the Covid-19 Modeling Consortium at the University of Texas at Austin.
What the future may hold
If the herd immunity threshold is not attainable, what matters most is the rate of hospitalizations and deaths after pandemic restrictions are relaxed, experts believe.
By focusing on vaccinating the most vulnerable, the United States has already brought those numbers down sharply. If the vaccination levels of that group continue to rise, the expectation is that over time the coronavirus may become seasonal, like the flu, and affect mostly the young and healthy.
“What we want to do at the very least is get to a point where we have just really sporadic little flare-ups,” said Carl Bergstrom, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Washington in Seattle. “That would be a very sensible target in this country where we have an excellent vaccine and the ability to deliver it.”
Over the long term — a generation or two — the goal is to transition the new coronavirus to become more like its cousins that cause common colds. That would mean the first infection is early in childhood, and subsequent infections are mild because of partial protection, even if immunity wanes.
Some unknown proportion of people with mild cases may go on to experience debilitating symptoms for weeks or months — a syndrome called “long Covid” — but they are unlikely to overwhelm the health care system.
“The vast majority of the mortality and of the stress on the health care system comes from people with a few particular conditions, and especially people who are over 60,” Dr. Lipsitch said. “If we can protect those people against severe illness and death, then we will have turned Covid from a society disrupter to a regular infectious disease.”
If communities maintain vigilant testing and tracking, it may be possible to bring the number of new cases so low that health officials can identify any new introduction of the virus and immediately stifle a potential outbreak, said Bary Pradelski, an economist at the National Center for Scientific Research in Grenoble, France. He and his colleagues described this strategy in a paper published on Thursday in the scientific journal The Lancet.
“Eradication is, I think, impossible at this stage,” Dr. Pradelski said. “But you want local elimination.”
In the very beginning , the coronavirus widespread appearance in the US should have been presented to the people as a national emergency but also long term challenge on the level of World War 2. Because Trump wanted to play down the threat in order to maintain his (narcissistic, delusional) aura of invincibility , the US dealt with the pandemic on a piecemeal basis without much national unity or purpose. Throw in right wing conspiracy theories and other associated nonsense related to the masks and "shutting down", and failure was guaranteed. In some corners it became "patriotic" to not social distance and not wear masks, and now to not get the vaccine.
The result, experts say the virus will be here, albeit at a lower level, for years.
In my opinion because trump didn't want to have to do what was needed to curb the spread during HIS re-election.
Closing and /or restricting businesses.
Ironically his refusal to deal responsibly with the virus in the beginning probably cost him the election.
trump trumped trump out of office
As I long predicted he would. I am not one bit surprised I always said "Let trump have plenty of rope and the man would eventually hang himself".
Trump was never interested in herd immunity, he was only interested in promoting herd mentality. He even said so.
Kevin
@Skywatcher1600
·
2m
the US will not reach herd immunity. because it has officially sunk to the levels of an underdeveloped 3rd world nation. not due to catastrophe or lack of ability to go beyond, but due to the sheer stupidity and selfishness of its populace.
This is true. As I've said before, never underestimate the stupidity of the American people.
ignorance rules followed
Biden and his fellow Dems aren't helping a bit to improve the situation.
Their parading around incessantly signaling their virtue by wearing masks when not necessary after having been fully vaccinated is just plain stupid. The obvious optics implies they don't believe the shots work.
Unnecessary "shutting down" by Dem governors and mayors resulted in killing the economy and millions of lost jobs...many of them permanently gone
Face reality Greg. If Trump had presented this pandemic to his supporters as a national challenge and used "Make America Covid Free Again" as a rallying cry, we would have seen things go much much smoother. We would have had people with the red Trump hats on lining up to be first to get the vaccine. Because he is a narcissistic ignoramus we instead got fistfights in grocery stores where Trump fans refused to wear masks because "freedom" and now they refuse to be vaccinated for the same reason.
Trump fucking blew it.....!
We wouldn't have all of this vaccine hesitancy in red states if the fat ass had come out promoting mask wearing as a patriotic duty....
Instead he came out in verbal support of those that were defiant in mask wearing..... Death count be damned!
trump put his re-election before the american people lifes. And some died as a result.
IMO: That alone should disqualify trump from ever holding another public office again for as long as he lives.
But he did. Not in those words, exactly, but Trump could not have been prouder of his Operation Warp Speed. Trump spent months bragging about the vaccine and how his great plan helped to make it a reality faster than anyone could have ever dreamed and so on. We’ve never seen anything like it!
I’m paraphrasing, of course.
If anything, it was Democrats who went around hinting that the vaccine might be dangerous because Trump was allegedly pushing so hard to get it done by the election that he would force the FDA to approve a useless or dangerous vaccine.The idea that any of his supporters are now resisting getting vaccinated is therefore baffling to me, but it is a madness of their own making. A real Trump supporter should be crowing about getting the Trump vaccine. Frankly, I’m amazed any far left Democrats get vaccinated.
By all means, explain how not promoting mask wearing somehow causes vaccine hesitancy. You realize masks and vaccines are different things, right? Good luck connecting those dots.
While your at it, explain how the Democratic ticket for President casting doubt on the safety of the vaccines didn't cause vaccine hesitancy, but Trump not being sufficiently pro-mask did.
A lot of good money and wealth will do if one can't breath sufficiently. I will continue to wear my masks, plural. Damn anybody with idiotic things to say about it.
Blame the idiots listening to one stupid man who is a nobody! They don't get a pass for being stupid, and more to the point, they have a level of responsibility to themselves, their families, and the larger community in which they dwell to not be so damn stupid.
No passes for ignorant, selfish people - conservative, liberal, and/or progressive! They all make me tired!
Because the vaccines of themselves never were the problem. The duplicitous LIAR-IN-CHIEF Donald J. Trump (who is still pushing a most tortured Big Lie") into the political stream even today was not trustworthy then and is not so now. Trump needed to go, because he does not inspire confidence in people not devoted to this cause (of lying and promoting his cause alone above all other causes).
Why can't some people see this creepy, man for the pathetic louse he puts on display every day?
Biden is current prez, not Trump.
What's Biden doing now to inspire confidence in the vaccines?
I'd love for someone to explain how Biden ignoring the CDC and wearing masks outside after being fully vaccinated will inspire confidence that the vaccines work.
What's Biden supposed to do, take EXTRA doses of vaccine to "inspire" the public who won't get off their asses and help society? I think not! That's why Biden wears his mask still (as I do) after vaccination. So much bull patty out and about. So much virus (and its variants) still floating out of stupid mouths and noses into the 'air.'
Biden, by wearing a mask at this point, is not trying to inspire anybody. He is elderly and he is trying to stay healthy. Because the science on this virus is not complete. We can know this, because we know vaccines won't protect us 100 percent. And all it takes is one "buffoon" to spread breath, talk, sneeze, or cough into the 'poo' and infect somebody. (Mildly or severely.)
As for the new CDC guidelines, well I get it. Since we have all these opposition naysayers out and about (on television and in communities), the CDC has to negotiate with obstructionists who have influential public platforms, and the crisis is 'looking up' well some loosening of the regulations can be positive. (It's like opening a window on a cold sunny day to let the outside air into a sick patient's room for disinfecting.)
It does not follow that all commonsense and caution should be casted aside.
One more thing. As it turns out: Ask a physician (as I have done) and you will discover that many/must of them were vaccinated early on in December 2020 and coming forward - and, to a man or woman when you enter a healthcare 'arena' each one still is protected by facial masking or doubly so.
How come, you think Sean?
Well maybe if Trump had gotten behind the vaccines instead of lying about them there would be less hesitancy.
Maybe if Trump had put the welfare of Americans First, not his personal agenda, we might have beaten this virus.
Because of trumpturd.
But he did. Not in those words, exactly, but Trump could not have been prouder of his Operation Warp Speed. Trump spent months bragging about the vaccine and how his great plan helped to make it a reality faster than anyone could have ever dreamed and so on. We’ve never seen anything like it!
I’m paraphrasing, of course.
If anything, it was Democrats who went around hinting that the vaccine might be dangerous because Trump was allegedly pushing so hard to get it done by the election that he would force the FDA to approve a useless or dangerous vaccine.The idea that any of his supporters are now resisting getting vaccinated is therefore baffling to me, but it is a madness of their own making. A real Trump supporter should be crowing about getting the Trump vaccine. Frankly, I’m amazed any far left Democrats get vaccinated.
But he didn't
What a pile of shit. Did you just make it up?
how convenient that Democrats have found the sole reason for everything bad in the world.
oh, btw. /s
But Trump was supposed to wear a mask to inspire people. Isn't that the story?
e is elderly and he is trying to stay healthy.
By ignoring the CDC? He doesn't think his CDC knows what it's talking about? Or doesn't he understand risk and is not mentally sharp enough to be President?
t does not follow that all commonsense and caution should be casted aside.
So you believe Biden is telling the American people that the CDC has thrown commonsense and caution out the window.
You selectively left this portion of my comment out.That's telling and its tiresome. Growth and development, please.
The CDC has its "economy of rationales," I am sure . However, you will observe first responders and healthcare workers are not ditching masks when in public for themselves. Just sayin': be cautious with your health, it's the only body you have.
So our local lefties are trying to cast all blame on the previous occupant, while absolving Biden of all responsibility
You think Biden deserves responsibility, for the refusal of people to vaccinated, because he wears a mask outdoors?
Uh.......ok.
It contributes to the problem, yes. It’s obviously not the only reason people don’t get vaccinated.
By the way, he also contributed to the problem by being part of the group that led people to believe a vaccine might be rushed to the public before it was ready and safe.
There is plenty of responsibility to go around, and yes, Biden shares some of that responsibility.
There is no accounting for the 'survival' instincts of some people who duck, cover, and dodge whether than just getting with the program! Well, the solution is more and more people with long-term chronic health issues and oh yeah: "Pushing up daisies."
When we have mostly republicans that will not get a vax, that says all that needs to be said.
That can be applied in many ways and in many situations in this world.
If thinking and analysis are not desired, I guess you’re right. For me, it doesn’t say anything about why they are resisting and it makes no connection to Trump. I think I have given a reason why Republicans should be enthusiastic about the vaccine. If you don’t want to face those facts, that’s your business, but there is clearly more to be said by people willing to think outside a partisan box.
No you didn't, it was mostly blaming Democrats and saying they should take blame.
So when we have mostly republican men that refuse the vac it is others that need to look beyond a partisan box?...
Got any sources to support that?
Anti-vaxxers would more likely to be liberal
I don't follow your comment's meaning. Please, elaborate.
I’m not “mostly” blaming anyone. I responded to a comment about Biden deserving responsibility. I made clear that he was part of the problem. If you’re unwilling to entertain the idea that the party that you support - or someone in it - could be responsible in any way, then yeah, that sounds like you’re unwilling to think outside a partisan box.
All the ones I know here in CO are christian conservatives. I don't know ANY liberal anti-vaxers.
Exactly. They're the only ones saying that they won't and encouraging others not to.
The blame falls solely on the gop/republicans denial of the truth.
No such thing.
We have a very strong bias towards the truth and reality.
who told you the truth is biased, and why would you believe them???
can you post your source for that claim?
Yep. It was republicans also complaining and refusing to wear masks.
Trump deserves all the blame. He’s the one who knew the virus was much more contagious and fatal than the flu, but continued to lie about it for another 5 weeks while NY & NJ were massively infected from Europe. He’s the one who refused to take coordinating responsibility for the virus and pushed it to the states. He’s the one who then undermined the states by activating his moronic base with ’free xxx’ tweets. He the one who politicized mask wearing resulting in his obsequious base of morons babbling about The Constitution rather than limited the spread of the virus. He’s the one who purposely slowed down testing to hide the virus’s progress. The only thing he did to help was operation warp speed, likely because the ignorant infant thought the name was cool. The Lancet, one of the oldest medical journals, studied the Trump Administration’s handling of the pandemic and concluded that about 40% of the deaths were avoidable. He’s also the one who got vaccinated in January, but kept it secret.
Your complaint about Biden is that he continues to wear a mask and this causes people to not want to be vaccinated or something. So weak. The disease is still spreading and mutating into variants that are less susceptible to the vaccine. So now the professionals are starting to believe we will never achieve herd immunity. The awesome legacy of Trump’s epic unfitness as President.
Looks like people are trying to move the goalposts again.
It seems to me that eventually, the unvaccinated people will get sick anyway. Assuming they survive, that will fill in the gaps for herd immunity the old fashioned way. I can tell you this: I’m not going to spend the rest of my life masking and social distancing. I did my part. I did those things when it was necessary, and then I got vaccinated. I’m not going to live pandemic-style because of some assholes who won’t do the obviously right thing.
Take your 50/50 chances then. Get ahead of the science and all we can do is wish you well. (Even as we wish ourselves with the science underway.)
What 50/50 chance are you talking about?
Good question! It seems I wrote that a bit distracted on a project this AM. Loosely, the phrase "50/50" applies as me and others vaccinated are still at some risk of contacting this virus even when it can be: 1) asymptomatic. 2) mildly symptomatic. 3) in rare occasions affected by some co-morbidity making it "toxic" and grave to a vaccinated person.
The scientists and medical professionals are still processing and analyzing incoming data. We do not have the "All Clear." As a result, these stubborn, ridiculously hard-headed people who won't "help" with ridding the country of its pandemic germ warfare leaves us all vulnerable and needing to exercise continuous cautions. (Like Masks).
Of course we are, but it’s not 50/50 CB! This is a kind of misinformation you’re spreading and it contributes to the problem we have getting people vaccinated. If they think it’s even money that they will get sick anyway, why would anyone get vaccinated?
The facts are that the two major vaccines available are over 90% effective at blocking the virus, and even if you do get sick, it won’t put you in the ICU or kill you like it otherwise might. It also greatly reduces your ability to spread the virus. These are facts that we know already. That’s the message we need to be sharing - not that it’s 50/50.
What could be more motivating to people than showing them that they don’t have to worry about masking and distancing if they’re fully vaccinated - and especially so if the people around them are, too? Even the CDC is finally coming around and telling people they don’t have to mask up outside or inside if it’s with other vaccinated people.
Everything we have always known about vaccines is working the same with this vaccine. It will keep almost everyone from getting sick. If they do get sick, it won’t be that bad, and they’re unlikely to spread the virus.
This is not new science, but spokespeople keep acting like they don’t know how vaccines work. It’s like they don’t want to say “take the masks off” until no one on Planet Earth is sick and Covid goes the way of smallpox. It’s unnecessarily extreme and it drives skepticism about the vaccines.
This is what I started @7.1.2 with:
Okay, then don't use it. As for accusing me of misinformation, please. You know damn well in context I am referring to vaccinated people mixing together with un-vaccinated people in unmasked settings for long stretches of time, while we remain still unclear on everything about this still novel coronavirus, its variants, and vaccine efficacy. Look at some of my other comments spread across this comment section.
Use it or lose it. I don't intend to be the distraction today!
And what about it? "Fully vaccinated" is going to be one "strange beast" for the present and beyond. Why? Because we all know people play lying games!
There is a "strangeness" already occurring amongst vaccinated people. . . many of them are only partially vaccinated and not going back for the second shot. Guess what? These people will LIE and tell people (innocently or flat-out) they are vaccinated—without the fine distinction.
That's messed up! How will you or I or anybody argue with some lying 'yahoo' about their state of vaccination (partial lack/or complete lack) thereof?
You will not.
Don't trust people. People are going to lie to you about being vaccinated.
And one more strangeness: There is a developing story about FAKE vaccination cards (for those who want to foster their lie more thoroughly) being sold in our country.
There are times in life when it pays 'bigly' to lag behind the "trending" activity of the day. I think this is a case where being a laggard is just plain appropriate.
Sorry, but with so much genuine misinformation floating around, I think it’s actually kind of important to stress the 90+% efficacy of these vaccines. That’s phenomenal! Getting vaccinated should not even be a hard choice for 99+% of people.
I assume with all this pushback you're presenting, that you already have digged mask wearing, yes? No more mask wearing for you?
The heck with that! I say “Bring on the Vaccine Passports!” And I’ll restrict the rights of people who won’t get it. Seriously. I’m ready to twist some arms.
I hear a lot about how great Biden is doing with vaccines, but I don’t see it. Getting vaccines to people who want it was the easy part. That was just a matter of time. You want to impress me? Get the holdouts vaccinated and then I’ll think government has done something truly useful.
Well you aint' getting misinformation from me to be clear. The vaccines are fine! Stubborn 'yahoos' are not fine. And we are going to be paying for it according to the expert with "impaired herd immunity" in my opinion. On the other-hand, it just might be the spank on the horse's rear that antivaxxers need to hear to get their sorry asses up and about helping out the lot of us.
Maybe Biden can get cooperative help from old "standalone" president Donald J. Trump to assist? I mean really! That dude is a real piece of work. Some conservatives love him even as he screws them over royally on this one. How about y'all get Donald to 'take one for the team'? Do a promotional vaccination video with other former presidents (it would be a first for him).
Do you mean “ditched?” No, I haven’t ditched it yet. I’m not fully protected until next Monday. I only got shot number 2 a week ago. And as long as the businesses I go into still require it, I won’t have a choice. That’s fine for now, but if people don’t get their shit together and get vaccinated, I’m not going to keep sacrificing because of them. If I have to go all ‘aggressive activist’ to help get people vaccinated, I will. Anti-vax morons are not going to be allowed to fuck it up for everyone else.
I think that’s a good idea. I wish Trump would go on TV or something and tell people to get vaccinated, although I’m not entirely convinced that it’s his supporters that are the problem.
I have encountered a number of relatively liberal young people in their 20s who think they can - or should - skip it. Some people think they will be fine without it and don’t want to deal with side effects. Other people genuinely think the vaccine is dangerous.
I heard today there is talk going around that the vaccine will make you sterile. I don’t know where this insanity comes from, but it’s out there.
Yes, "ditched." Thank you. Interesting comment too!
If every 'side' collaborates leders can find 'followers' to fall inline. Not everyone, but enough to get the immunity our society needs.
The misinformation/disinformation is coming from the republicans/gop. You need to stop it!
We are seeing the results of a year of democratic disinformation poisonings the minds of left wingers in this thread. Preying upon their innate anti-Americanism and mentally disabling hatred of Trump, progressive opinion manipulators have fooled gullible left wingers into believing all sorts of things that aren't true and don't stand up to scrutiny. Supposedly Americans have been hit by Covid because they don't wear masks. The reality is we do wear masks at rates that are superior or essentially equal to countries in Europe and Canada, supposedly the countries are little euro worshipping friends claim did it right.
Now the new hotness is Trump is somehow responsible for American's supposedly catastrophic rate of vaccine hesitancy. We are now a third world country or something. Putting aside the insanity of equating masks and vaccines, the reality is American vaccine hesitancy is not abnormal and lower than many "first world" countries:
The numbers in the U.S. are significantly better than the E.U. Last month, in collaboration with the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, the RECOVER Social Sciences team published a policy brief based on their study on public views of Covid-19 vaccination. The study covered seven European countries: France, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Spain, Sweden, and Ukraine.
Only 36% of the surveyed Europeans strongly agree with the statement that vaccines are safe. Posed the question whether respondents would be willing to be vaccinated if the vaccine was found to be safe and effective and provided free-of-charge, only between 44% and 66% answered in the affirmative. Moreover, a separate poll in France found that only 40% of French people want the Covid-19 vaccine.
Maybe instead of blaming Trump, ask why Biden and Democratic leaders wear masks when they don't have to? Simply employing common sense about vaccines would tell you don't panic the populace about their safety and demonstrate a benefit to getting vaccinated.
So instead of putting any blame on the previous administration, put the blame on people that actually wear masks...
Yeah, that's the ticket...
So instead of putting any blame on the previous administration...
Some, but not all...enough blame to go around
All belongs on the former occupant of the White House.
And so this specific coronavirus may linger around year after year. That's the other 'shoe' - generally viruses are not cured (maybe "arrested.") Consider the common cold virus: its damn "ancient."