| What data do you have that say that my comment is likely to be a bot? (genuinely curious) As I first mentioned, Random Controlled Trials are unlikely to be the best measure for this. >>encouraging an intervention in public places needs to be based on unambiguous evidence, supported by genuine, authentic science and presented in a way that is convincing to a scientifically-literate society such as ours. >>These products have produced a reliable, measurable, significant change in outcomes Yes, true for those products and also for the intervention of wearing N95 masks (I fully agree that other masks are basically placebos). Again, the most convincing evidence of the effectiveness of mask intervention is that despite crazy levels of anti- and poor-compliance, and limited availability of N95 masks, we drove extinct an entire lineage of another airborne disease, simply by taking small measures that reduce R0 of airborne pathogens. It was not even the target, just collateral damage. >>to the extent that no reasonable person questions their efficacy impact This is a nice to have but definitely not necessary qualifying criteria. And, with every one of the measures you mentioned, there were and still are people who claim to be unconvinced. It is kind of what leadership is about - moving the comfort zone to a better place. >>hunger for immediate gratification Watching the anti-mask / anti-vax attitudes, especially when they are expressed as some kind of fear of state power over the individual, I'm sorry to say that the most fundamental basis I've seen for that is freeloading and entitled hostility to inconvenience or needing to care about others in society. They refuse to undertake a minor inconvenience to what will help them and everyone else in society, and in doing so, freeload on the herd immunity or reduction in R0 maintained by their smarter peers. Valuing your own convenience over everyone else's health maybe isn't best called "instant gratification", but it isn't far off. If you have a better suggestion, let me know. Thx for the love; same to you. I'm all for data-driven approaches to public health interventions; sadly many of those who oppose them are not data driven, but have other motivations, and disguising those as "data driven" does not make it so. |