Thread by @AndrewMakeTweet

The pandemic is at its worst and still worsening.

The number of new cases each day keeps surpassing prior all-time highs.

The number of deaths each day keeps surpassing prior all-time highs.

There's a new super-infectious strain of the virus.

People are exhausted.

People are without paychecks.

People are facing evictions.

There is a dream of quickly vaccinating our way out of this but we're failing to produce and distribute the vaccine fast enough.

Like, we're really, really far behind the pace that's needed.

Our political leaders are failing to take public health seriously.

Our religious leaders are failing to take public health seriously.

Our medical leaders are failing to take public health seriously.

And our public health leaders are failing to take politics seriously.

(Who in public health is asking: What is power? Who has it? How can we get the power we need? What are the tools of power-building? Who is good at it? How can we work with them?)

Brutal truth: For the public health policies and systems we need for the current moment – the kinds that can stop viral transmission and prevent mass death – there is no one leading or organizing on any scale or with any degree of intensity that is even close to what's needed.

Brutal truth: If we continue to fail so badly at confronting this pandemic, we may face 1,000,000 dead, our lives dominated by this for 2 years, and an economic depression that lasts a decade.

Our current trajectory is continued failure, a humanitarian catastrophe.

But it does not have to be.

We can get more vaccine produced.

We can get more vaccine distributed.

We can get more closures of spaces that accelerate transmission.

We can get more places with mask mandates.

We can get more public communication inspiring and educating people to use masks and keep distance and reduce interactions across households.

We can get survival checks.

We can get test results back within 24 hours.

We can get more funding to local public health departments.

We can prevent mass death and mass evictions and mass restrictions and mass stress.

We just need political leaders to fight for these things.

We just need unions, churches, and businesses to fight for these things.

We just need ordinary people to fight for these things.

If we do these things we will save hundreds of thousands of lives and we will free ourselves from the soul-crushing restrictions, fear, heartache, exhaustion, and economic devastation of this pandemic.

Please, I know you're tired but we need you, we need each other. Please, be outraged. Please, commit to action. Please, take some initiative. Please, invite others to join with you.

We need everyone stepping up to get us off our current failed path and onto one where we all can thrive.

Fight now so we can thrive sooner.

Let's not linger in this hellscape.

We all deserve to thrive, and we all just have own making it happen. Please do your part.