I really admire especially my local paper's dogged determination to help open schools given the impacts of school closures on child mental & physical health. However, would argue with @drlucymcbride that we need a @factsnotfear approach to our reporting
sfchronicle.com/opinion/editor…
if we really want parents/teachers/students to feel safe about school openings. Examples of #factsnotfear reports are 1) explain to public what the vax effectiveness data is showing us in real-world: vax incredibly effective under stress of surges, differential mask wearing etc.
Very difficult to get or give #covid19 after vaccine. So, also explain to public all the accumulating data that vaccines massively reduce transmission. Cover the multiple papers which show this & discuss how IgA (mucosal antibody) generated by vax protect from nasal infection
3) Cover variants with data we have in hand: 1 (B117) may be more transmissible but masks/distancing/ventilation work; not more virulent; use publicly available CDC data & show hospitalizations not increasing per %B117 in states
thelancet.com/journals/lanpu…
&
thelancet.com/journals/lanin…
4) Explain complexity of immune system even if takes time. CD8 T cells respond to 52 epitopes or small pieces across spike protein/ CD4 to 23 epitopes; will be difficult for variants to break through our immune system. Expert who wrote textbook on Virology
thestreet.com/latest-news/th…
5) Explain clearly why mass asymptomatic testing of vaccinated individuals is not indicated because small amount of virus in nose of person without symptoms that can't be transmitted actually shows vaccine is working (you are cutting it off at the pass)
salon.com/2021/04/17/bre…
6) Do not be fearful of messaging when mask mandates will end as that will not make public less careful & will be motivating for parents/teachers/students towards new normal. Mask ending show us the end of a public health emergency
slate.com/technology/202…
7) Ask public health officials for clear metrics when public health emergency orders will end - is it 5 hospitalizations/100K + 40% vaccination rate or another metric? Put clear metrics into place given our fast vaccine roll-out & incredible effectiveness
washingtonpost.com/outlook/2021/0…
8) Report with @factsnotfear per @drlucymcbride as we enter this summer determine fall school openings. Discuss impact of school closures on child mental health, discuss successes of UK/Israel fast roll-out, report on "what can you do after vax" confidently etc. Thank you!
7.5) Report deeply on how long immunity expected to last after vaccination given T cell/memory B cell data emerging from important studies & how unlikely to need boosters if so (& how coronavirus has strong proofreading mechanism)
wsj.com/articles/how-l…
Oh the papers on the 51 epitopes CD8 cover across the spike protein and the 23 epitopes of CD4 papers are in this thread
I should have ended this 9-point thread on how experts & reporters interested in school openings can use facts in their reporting to ease fear in parents/teachers/students with this important article from @davidzweig for @NYMag (where he did just that):
nymag.com/intelligencer/…
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