What caused COVID-19 communication gaps?
The global pandemic for the last seven months has proven to be a mix of unknown science, political battles, in-fighting among some American and global doctors, scientists, researchers, and medical journalists. It’s been challenging for me to watch individuals who are responsible for protecting and finding solutions for the worldwide community to combat COVID-19, being assholes.
‘Misinformation’ was created from the unknown science, destructive behavior from a few political figures, and groupthink of some global experts. Media celebrities and outlets didn’t hesitate to take advantage of the unfolding communication gaps to make money. Unfortunately, a side-effect of the media reporting on the communication gaps has created fear and instability around the world.
Never let a good crisis go to waste.
~Winston Churchill
The Blame Game
America’s narcissistic society loves playing the blame game. It has become easy for many to take a deadly ‘novel virus’ and conduct a political blame game during an election year. Everyone is playing the game while the daily death toll climbs.
American media is leading in the game with millions of statements that can be examined for the ongoing ‘blame game,’ which creates ratings that translate into billions of dollars of revenue for media outlets. Let’s consider two samples that were randomly chosen from Twitter during a five-month timeframe.
‘How far off is a vaccine-How far off is an antibody test + quick test for the entire U.S.? The answer to those 2 questions together is our real timeline out of this. Never a clear answer from the jumbled, corrupt W.H. that refused to prepare… .’ — Mika Brzezinski, Tweet, April 5, 2020
‘When do we get quick tests? Seems like it would be great for helping the economy and education etc. Why no quick tests?’ — Mika Brzezinski, Tweet, August 6, 2020
Ms. Brzezinski’s statements could be interpreted as a lack of integrity over five months, creating fear and panic in society and insulting Americans working 24/7 trying to develop a vaccine and produce tests for COVID-19. We need to remember that politicians don’t know how to create a vaccine or testing kits, nor do they know how long it will take; their roles include providing funding and support.
Reality vs. Media Drama
Global health authorities and vaccine developers are working together to create a vaccine, but they have no idea when the process will be completed or if it will be successful. To answer Ms. Brzezinski’s vaccine question, no one on the planet knows when a vaccine will be ready for use or if it will work.
‘We are moving as fast as humanly possible.’ — Brooke Fiala, Research Scientist
Why?
Creating a vaccine usually takes years, as well as the following:
- New technology
- Lab testing three to six months
- Manufacturing safety and quality
- Human testing that includes three phases
- Production and distribution
If rushed, the entire process will take 12 to18 months with no guarantees that the vaccine will work. If President Trump continues to drive funds and support to the scientific experts as he has done since January 2019, a vaccine could be created for COVID-19 in record time.
‘From the creation of the idea to having a marketable vaccine is usually seven to 10 years or more, and about 1 billion U.S. dollars.’ — Gregory A. Poland, MD, director of the Mayo Vaccine Research Group, March 2020.
The answer to Ms. Brzezinski’s antibody test question:
Around the world, both private and academic labs have rushed to create antibody tests. One of the first American antibody tests was created by Mount Sinai’s Icahn School of Medicine in late March 2020. According to Science, by February 27, 2020, Singapore, and China had also developed experimental antibody tests. April 2020 gave no clear path to the mass production or distribution of antibody tests globally because of production cost, supply shortages, and personal. I’m not sure how Ms. Brzezinski didn’t know the facts before tweeting on April 4, 2020.
The COVID-19 test question continues even today with her quick-test demands. As of August 9, 2020, the U.S. reports 65,756,307 tests completed—more than any other country. Should all countries in the world be testing more?
Absolutely.
However, if you ever had a ‘real world’ job in processes, it’s easy to understand that scaling-up takes time when dealing with supply shortages, equipment, and personal issues. Secondly, never in human history have countries around the world had to scale up sharing resources at the same time to save lives. Increasing testing will be a daunting task globally, but solutions must be found. It will take a partnership of many to solve the problem; no one person or organization is responsible for the COVID-19 testing shortage.
Continuing with her tweets, the statement ‘corrupt W.H., that refused to prepare…’ is uncalled for and indicates her lack of concern for details and ethical communication.
Ms. Brzezinski’s, as well as other media celebrities’, intent to improve their ratings and paychecks will create media noise going after President Trump. It’s all business that some Americans understand. However, most Americans can’t separate opinions from facts. Therefore, COVID-19 is not an event for Ms. Brzezinski to experiment with individuals’ emotions.
‘The media’s the most powerful entity on earth. They have the power to make the innocent guilty and to make the guilty innocent.’ Malcolm X
Is COVID-19 a global medical crisis?
Yes.
The world has suffered from significant losses of life, long term side effects from the virus, different illness severities, and changes to people’s personal lives and work environments. Unfortunately, COVID-19 will continue to affect families, communities, nations, and the global economy. When do the effects of COVID-19 stop? Unknown.
‘The pandemic is a once-in-a-century health crisis, the effects of which will be felt for decades to come,’
Dr. Tedros, July 31, 2020
Americans should understand.
After more than seven months, we still don’t know a lot about COVID-19. It’s also important to remember that the odds of failure with treatments, tests, and vaccines remain high.
The results of media bias, politicians, and groupthink of some experts have created an environment of distrust, uncertainty, fear, and panic in the early stages of the COVID-19.
Could the United States and the world have been more prepared for a coronavirus that became known as COVID-19?
It will take years of research to understand COVID-19 globally, followed by years of debates, and the world will still not be prepared for the next coronavirus. Please, do not jump to political conclusions. We have a lot to learn, and the focus now should be on working together for global solutions to save lives.
‘Although we have learned a great deal about this virus in the first half of 2020, there are still many unknowns. We have to hope for the best and be prepared for the worst.’ Jessica Justman, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, July 22, 2020
Thank you, Jacqueline (and Ken) for your opinions.
The media’s power comes from the public’s willingness to abandon skepticism in favor of resentment. And singling out a single reporter/media personality is in itself a revelation of bias. If we questioned our own thinking as frequently as we question others’, we could get out of the spin cycle and into solving problems.
Promoting drugs that “seem to have positive effects” spreads misinformation, and some of us actually need those drugs for an identified medical condition. We can blame the media, the pharmaceutical companies, politicians, on and on. What’s in the mirror, and what are you doing to push forward instead of merely pushing back?
Take good care,
Mac
P.S. When you get a chance, listen to the back2different podcast: no blame, no villains, only people taking responsibility for their own thinking and looking for ways to help: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1171136
I agree with your comments. One can only wonder how this would have played out so far if we removed the polotics, biased media comments, grab for huge amounts of money, and the efforts to get fame. I think a lot can be resolved if we just follow the money. That is true with the media and politics. It is also true with the push to find a cure and/or a vacine. There are at least two drugs available already that seem to have positive affects in curing the virus. Both have been used for many years for other purposes. I have been taking one myself for 5 1/2 years with no side effects. But, labs and pharmaceutical companies don’t make money selling those. There are litterally billions of dollars on the table for research.