I think it’s a valuable post, and agree that as an individual in the USA in 2021 it’s worth thinking carefully about these tradeoffs. In Australia though, it’s trivial to avoid facing these tradeoffs, because of the different policies we followed through 2020. (I will never claim they were great policies, but they were good enough)
My broader point is that the policy playbook we learn from COVID should be how and why to avoid such situations, not about how to live with R0≈1 for extended periods. Just do the proper lockdown for four-six weeks at the start instead of the end, and it’s over! We wouldn’t even need vaccines, let alone masks!
I think it’s a valuable post, and agree that as an individual in the USA in 2021 it’s worth thinking carefully about these tradeoffs. In Australia though, it’s trivial to avoid facing these tradeoffs, because of the different policies we followed through 2020. (I will never claim they were great policies, but they were good enough)
My broader point is that the policy playbook we learn from COVID should be how and why to avoid such situations, not about how to live with R0≈1 for extended periods. Just do the proper lockdown for four-six weeks at the start instead of the end, and it’s over! We wouldn’t even need vaccines, let alone masks!