I realize this is going to be different for different people and in different places, but if you’re in a place where mask compliance is high already, and rules are actually enforced, this isn’t likely to be a thing. I mean, obviously it is to some degree, people get a negative test result (sometimes, too soon after exposure for it to even mean anything) and then see friends and family unmasked. But I don’t think it’s anywhere near significant enough to change my conclusion.
If that were likely to be a major problem, I’d think we should already be seeing large numbers of people who’ve recovered from covid refusing to wear masks in public. After all, that’s much stronger evidence of not having covid, and not being able to catch it, than a negative test result is. Also, better messaging could help mitigate that, “Sometimes tests are wrong, so you can’t treat a negative test as a guarantee, but even if you could, a mask helps protect both you and others, so you should wear one to help you stay negative.”
Still: I don’t mean for my list to be definitive. I was making examples based on my own assessments of the kind of reflection I’d need to see from major public health figures and institutions before I start trusting them to implement any policy that requires delicacy, nuance, precision, and care, to avoid causing significant harmful side effects.
If you’re not concerned about enforcement why bother with the security theater? Might as well just trust people when they say they’re vaccinated. The marginal benefits of the apps is negligible, compared to the cards. Anyone with the chutzpah and resources to forge a CDC card isn’t going to have a hard time forging a QR code and a driver’s license.
I agree. I’m not sure if I said otherwise anywhere, but if I did, it was a mistake. I do not support enforcing any kind of vaccine passport. I might, if the vaccine rollout were much slower than it currently is and there were an institution I trusted enough to roll out and enforce one thoughtfully enough. But as things are in the US, we’re approaching the point where anyone who wants a vaccine is allowed to get one. To me that means that within a month or two, it mostly stops being a valid argument that the unvaccinated-by-choice are putting anyone but themselves at risk, unless they’re working directly with vulnerable and un-vaccinatable populations.
False negative is worse than no test at all. It gives a person additional incentive to ignore mask rules.
I realize this is going to be different for different people and in different places, but if you’re in a place where mask compliance is high already, and rules are actually enforced, this isn’t likely to be a thing. I mean, obviously it is to some degree, people get a negative test result (sometimes, too soon after exposure for it to even mean anything) and then see friends and family unmasked. But I don’t think it’s anywhere near significant enough to change my conclusion.
If that were likely to be a major problem, I’d think we should already be seeing large numbers of people who’ve recovered from covid refusing to wear masks in public. After all, that’s much stronger evidence of not having covid, and not being able to catch it, than a negative test result is. Also, better messaging could help mitigate that, “Sometimes tests are wrong, so you can’t treat a negative test as a guarantee, but even if you could, a mask helps protect both you and others, so you should wear one to help you stay negative.”
Still: I don’t mean for my list to be definitive. I was making examples based on my own assessments of the kind of reflection I’d need to see from major public health figures and institutions before I start trusting them to implement any policy that requires delicacy, nuance, precision, and care, to avoid causing significant harmful side effects.
If you’re not concerned about enforcement why bother with the security theater? Might as well just trust people when they say they’re vaccinated. The marginal benefits of the apps is negligible, compared to the cards. Anyone with the chutzpah and resources to forge a CDC card isn’t going to have a hard time forging a QR code and a driver’s license.
I agree. I’m not sure if I said otherwise anywhere, but if I did, it was a mistake. I do not support enforcing any kind of vaccine passport. I might, if the vaccine rollout were much slower than it currently is and there were an institution I trusted enough to roll out and enforce one thoughtfully enough. But as things are in the US, we’re approaching the point where anyone who wants a vaccine is allowed to get one. To me that means that within a month or two, it mostly stops being a valid argument that the unvaccinated-by-choice are putting anyone but themselves at risk, unless they’re working directly with vulnerable and un-vaccinatable populations.