I think it is plausible that simple ventilation (open a window) could have been a common precaution like masks were. However there are a few reasons why serious ventilation (like HEPA filters) could not have been subsidized like vaccines were.
Everybody agreed at the start that vaccines were the ultimate goal, ventilators would have needed to build consensus at a time when they were unavailabile.
Vaccines only needed money from the government, ventilation would require much more infrastructure (approving ventilation plans on a per building level)
Universal ventilation is much more expensive than vaccines, and for the reasons described in the post non-universal solutions weren’t of interest.
I think there is a potential path where it could have happened but i think any such plan to implement would need to address these challenges head on. The reason no government could subsidize ventilation is not because of stupidity but because these pressures were too strong.
I think it is plausible that simple ventilation (open a window) could have been a common precaution like masks were. However there are a few reasons why serious ventilation (like HEPA filters) could not have been subsidized like vaccines were.
Everybody agreed at the start that vaccines were the ultimate goal, ventilators would have needed to build consensus at a time when they were unavailabile.
Vaccines only needed money from the government, ventilation would require much more infrastructure (approving ventilation plans on a per building level)
Universal ventilation is much more expensive than vaccines, and for the reasons described in the post non-universal solutions weren’t of interest.
I think there is a potential path where it could have happened but i think any such plan to implement would need to address these challenges head on. The reason no government could subsidize ventilation is not because of stupidity but because these pressures were too strong.