Thread by @laurieallee

And yet somehow I know 29 people--in my personal social/professional circle--who have had breakthrough infections. By this statistic, I guess I "probably" know 145000 people? I'm not even counting the cases I know on Twitter.

This is weird. And not helping end the pandemic.

https://twitter.com/nytimes/status/1435238944069783554

We have a good way to gauge risk: vax effectiveness rates.They ain't 1 in 5000. Covid is widely circulating in the US, which means the "average American" will come into contact with the virus.The effectiveness against infection number is a way to assess likelihood of infection.

This "pandemic of the unvaccinated" insanity will kill us all.

#WearAMask. #CovidIsNotOver no matter how much you manipulate the stats.

Honestly.

I'm speechless at the level of depravity these folks use to con people go out and spend money and perhaps die for the almighty economy. I thought I was a lefty before. This pandemic has totally radicalized me.

I am still reeling at how people will read this crazy "probability." 1 in 5000 means what, only around 30000 total breakthrough infections in the US? (Or in the "average" US. Lol)

If that were true, this would be the greatest vaccine in history. We'd have ended Covid already.

Look at how it was worded. "Average American" and "per day." If Covid is 1000 more contagious than previous strains (it is) an American will probably come into contact with it --unless they are isolating --on any given day. Is the Average American wearing a mask? Then sure!

But this creepy "Average American" language sure reminds me of another loaded political term: "Working families."

They're not talking about poor folks, or people of color.

This is exhausting. How do we end the pandemic when the media undermines efforts at EVERY TURN?