@COVID_questions@bergerbell@pgodfreysmith@NahasNewman@WesPegden Regarding India, I first noted in July 2020 that we would eventually see bad news due to comorbidites (in the context of poverty and inequality), but that overall deaths per capita would be limited by the low population age - similar to current events
In my view, we should also prioritize children, who have their whole lives ahead of them
@COVID_questions@bergerbell@pgodfreysmith@NahasNewman@WesPegden We should not focus on providing things like ventilators for the current crisis, which might sound like a good idea, but will achieve little benefit - among other things due to lack of staffing and resistant bacterial ventilator-associated pneumonia
@COVID_questions@bergerbell@pgodfreysmith@NahasNewman@WesPegden On lack of staffing, there is an enormous "brain drain" of many (though by no means all) Indian scientists, doctors, and nurses who move to rich countries for a better life after being educated in India
This, too, is a tragedy - and by no means the fault of these individuals
@COVID_questions@bergerbell@pgodfreysmith@NahasNewman@WesPegden On #covid19, if we had to pick one intervention, it would be providing vaccines to older people or those with commodities everywhere in the world - rather than vaccinating young healthy people in richer countries before older people in poorer countries
- the whole of public health > one cause of harm
- long term > short term
- children > older adults
- global mutual aid > fearmongering & xenophobia
- science > magical thinking
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The above is an example of how scientists and journal editors could better communicate findings and risks
The widespread and baseless fears that there would not be immunity to #covid19 could have been reduced, rather than increased, by more careful reporting of the same data
From the same study:
~50% of people infected with endemic coronaviruses still have higher levels of antibodies after 4 years
No reason to think that #covid19 would be wildly different
(antibodies don't necessarily = clinical protection, but still good data)