I don't think the general language we are using in the discourse about covid vaccines is appropriate.

So far, 140 million people have received a covid vaccine worldwide. There have been virtually NO DEATHS from covid after receiving the vaccine. This should be common knowledge.
I admire scientists who use the academic language of skepticism in their popular work bc it translates to a more scientifically literate audience.

But, it's creating a cloud of doubt over vaccinations which is dangerous. A third of Americans say they will not get vaccinated.
The headline should always be, "Covid vaccines mean you will not die of covid." You may get covid, but it will be a very mild form. All this talk of 67% vs. 95% effectiveness clouds the issue that vaccines make covid NOT DEADLY.
And ironically, the language of skepticism, which is usually quite healthy, is endangering the single greatest public health issue of our lifetimes: reaching herd immunity before covid can mutate beyond our ability to vaccinate for it.
So I'm begging journalists, popular scientists and experts to please continue their work educating their readers, but to lead with the big important news that laypeople can process: GETTING VACCINATED MEANS YOU WON'T DIE OF COVID.

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More from @Mikel_Jollett

30 Jan
We’re at the mass vaccination site at Dodger Stadium to get my mom the vaccine. The anti–vax protestors have approached the entrance to the site. The LAPD have now closed the gate. We have been sitting here for about half an hour. Nobody is moving.
There has been no communication from the LAPD as to how long the entrance will be closed. They closed the gate as the protestors approached, presumably to stop them from entering the facility itself. Now nobody is going in. This is the largest vaccination site in the country.
There appears to be only about 30 protestors total. It’s not clear why they’ve shut off the whole facility.

Sheriff’s helicopter now circling the scene.
Read 7 tweets
17 Jan
I remember the day Trump was sworn in, I had a lump in my throat of fear and dread. I've had it every day since. I've carried it like a tumor.

4 years later our system is in shambles, our Capitol was attacked by his supporters and 400,00 are dead.

But...it's over in 87 hours.
Trump did something important though, he revealed many of the lies America tells itself about itself: that America is somehow a post-racial meritocracy, that we are not susceptible to fascism, that America is somehow less selfish or stupid than other countries. It isn't.
And yes, of course, many of us have been saying these things for years, writing about them, researching them, marching for them. But Trump made them plain and tactile.

An obvious example: a great democracy is not attacked by the supporters of an outgoing imbecile autocrat.
Read 4 tweets
20 Nov 20
My book, HOLLYWOOD PARK, was chosen as an Amazon Editor's Pick for a best book of 2020:

"Wild and shocking, but beautifully articulated. Jollett conveys his journey—the hurt, strangeness & yearning of youth—with delicate care & unabashed honesty."
amazon.com/Hollywood-Park…
My book, HOLLYWOOD PARK, received a *starred review* from Publisher's Weekly which called it:

"A heartbreaking memoir of staggering growth."

publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/co…
This is, well, good.

My book, HOLLYWOOD PARK was chosen by Good Housekeeping as a Best Book of 2020:

"Loyalty, raw love, and a poetic voice prevails throughout the horror."
goodhousekeeping.com/life/entertain…
Read 4 tweets
17 Nov 20
Wow. This is very cool. My book, HOLLYWOOD PARK, is a finalist for the Memoir of the Year in the Goodread's Reader's Choice Awards.

I'm truly honored.
goodreads.com/choiceawards/b…
This is the opening paragraph of my book, HOLLYWOOD PARK, which was excerpted in @TIME Magazine earlier this year.

You can read the entire excerpt below:
time.com/5838998/mikel-…
"Jollett writes from the perspective of a child who slowly grows aware of his circumstances. He has an innate eye for detail. You sense any novel he’d write would be a good one, a Denis Johnson-esque tale rife with drifters and drugs."
- Washington Post
washingtonpost.com/entertainment/…
Read 5 tweets
1 Nov 20
The entire game for Republicans is to slow the counting of early votes in Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin-- then pretend that counting these legal votes is somehow cheating because they take a long time to count.
Most of you know this by now, but IF Trump holds Florida, NC and GA:

1. When we go to bed on Nov 3rd he'll be AHEAD in PA and MI by 10-15%.

2. Early votes are counted LAST in these states and lean heavily Dem.

3. Trump will claim that COUNTING these legal votes is cheating.
To be clear, it's more likely than not Dems will pick off GA, NC or FL -- and that's probably the whole ballgame.

But if that does not happen, the Republican game is to try to discount as many LEGAL MAIL-IN BALLOTS as possible thru courts, disenfranchising MILLIONS of people.
Read 5 tweets
29 Oct 20
Donald Trump is the WORST jobs president in American history.

NO OTHER PRESIDENT IN HISTORY has lost as many jobs as Donald Trump.

He ignored the advice of experts on covid, failed to lead and ran our economy INTO THE GROUND.
Since he was born rich, Trump thinks the stock market IS the economy.

But 84% of the stock market is owned by the rich.

That's why Trump passed a $2.3 TRILLION tax break for the rich that took money out of the hands of working Americans and gave it to the wealthy.
Covid arrived in S. Korea THE SAME DAY as the US. SK immediately put a test and trace program in place and smart distancing measures.

TOTAL DEATHS: 462
Economy: -1% GDP contraction

Trump called it a hoax.

TOTAL DEATHS: 233,000
Economy: Record job losses foreignpolicy.com/2020/09/16/cor…
Read 4 tweets

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