Thread by @wecarryon2

A thread 🧵

Delta is concerning but vaccinations are protective, so less likely to end up in hospital / ICU or morgue.
Lambda, on the other hand, has been shown to evade vaccines entirely.
It was a huge mistake (as I predicted) to rely on a vaccine. 1/

Why? Because coronaviruses are notorious in their ability to mutate, and mutate quickly. It is the same family as the common cold. Recall catching a cold more than once in a year, sometimes back to back? Mutations allow it to circumvent your immune system by mutating. 2/

It was only a matter before the current vaccines would become useless against emerging variants. Vaccinating at least 80%, globally, and rapidly, before another mutation pops up *may* have worked, but you can imagine why this simply can’t happen 3/

Some reasons are: logistics, availability across the globe, anti-vaxxers, and those who can’t be vaccinated. With a partially vaccinated world population we’re giving the opportunity for this virus to mutate again, and it will mutate until vaccines will be ineffective 3/

Enters lambda. And many other mutations in the future that we may run out of the Greek alphabet letters and start getting really creative. Our governments and WHO has banked on developing vaccines in record time which is an incredible, historical feat. 4/

If you are eligible, you too should get vaccinated. Not tomorrow, today. Speed is of the essence before vaccine-resistant mutations take hold. But that is almost inevitable as I mentioned because you’d need to vaccinate at least 70-80% of 7.5 billion humans in record time 5/

Which brings me to my main argument: the bottom line. Back to the basics. This is an #airborne virus that transmits via the upper airway. It is in the air you share with an infected host. Viruses are TINY: it is essentially a piece of dna wrapped in a protein molecule 6/

It is so tiny that you can’t really see it even with the most powerful microscopes. So tiny that it will hang in the air for minutes / hours until someone else breathes it in. You can walk into an empty room recently vacated by an infected person and get sick. 7/

This is why ventilation and filtration of ambiant air is critical. Hence the need in our workplaces and schools. And that costs $$$, hence the lack of motivation. Handwashing and social distancing surely helps but is hardly sufficient once you understand how this virus works 8/

By now you may feel discouraged. What can we do to put this behind us? Two things can give us a really good chance. Both need to be done NOW, and DECISIVELY. And no, neither involves getting vaccinated, even though right now vaccines help — 9/

but remember that the virus continues to mutate and will rapidly ‘learn’ to escape vaccines.
What can really give us a chance to end this pandemic are #1: a barrier between your airway and the airborne pathogen, ie a mask. It will keep the virus IN if you’re infected and 10/

help keep it OUT if you’re in contact with the virus. If we ALL wore masks consistently when in public then this virus would have no chance.
#2, minimize contact and travel. Lockdowns works for a reason. If you stick to your bubble (immediate family / households contacts and 11/

co-workers if your job is deemed essential) then you’re preventing the virus to keep infecting others beyond your immediate circle.
And here’s the best part: if we ALL wore masks and restricted movement and travel for a few weeks we would put an end to this pandemic 12/

No need for new vaccines or vaccine boosters. Just a collective effort, something we should have done already. To do this simultaneously is KEY. Our world is so connected that what happens in a remote corner of the world is only a flight away to impact you also 13/

Alas, as interconnected our world is it is also disjointed. We have governments and health jurisdictions with their own different approaches, often tainted by other priorities: the economy, political power, etc. The @WHO and the various CDC across the world 14/

need to take a strong and unwavering stance and issue recommendations as strongly as possible to MANDATE and make available masks to all, and plan for a global HARD lockdown including international flights and closing borders for a while. Restrict travel between cities 15/

which you enforce with road blocks.
No, we’re not all suddenly going to turn into an authoritarian regime, shutting down all our personal freedoms and rights in the long-term. It needs to be framed as humans working together to stop this pandemic. Because I believe we can 16/

and it’s never too late.

@WHO @CDCgov @CDCofBC @DrBonnieHenry @adriandix @jjhorgan @JustinTrudeau @bcpoli

fin