July 31, 2021
Communicating is hard, especially with change
Lately I haven’t written regularly. I have been pre-occupied with my day job. It has been keeping me up at night. Good, clear communication challenges all organizations. Messaging that is obscure, conflicting, or not honest harms. In a small group, good communication helps solve problems and keeps things running smoother. With a big group, communicating well is imperative, improving morale and avoiding resentments. Effective communication starts at the top, but can be affected and altered as it goes down the chain.
I am struck with this notion that improved communication can help with the COVID-19 pandemic. I am watching as communications from the CDC and other health entities about COVID-19 confuse, alarm, or anger people. Granted, the CDC is fighting against a disinformation campaign about COVD-19 and vaccines, but their mixed messaging sets back their goal of getting more vaccinated, improving mask wearing adherence, and preventing more illness and death.
I do not envy their position. From the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, what is known about the disease has evolved. The CDC and other health departments had to balance recommendations based on the changing knowledge about SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 with the willingness and acceptance of leaders, from national to state to local. Many disrupters use these changes in recommendations as reasons not to trust the CDC, therefore opposing new guidelines as they are made.
This is frustrating for me, because I know we started from zero knowledge, with best guesses based on similar viruses. Recommendations and treatments changed as more data arrived. We have come so far, gaining some breathing space with vaccines. Yet, we seem to be moving backward, as cases increase. Now news comes that breakthrough infections happen regularly and those may then infect others.
Along with disinformation, comes journalistic interpretation sensationalizing the new information. Are we really moving backward? If you base it on increasing numbers of infections and hospitalizations, the answer is yes. Almost all of those are in the unvaccinated and are concentrated in locations with low rates of immunizations. Florida in particular has rising infections and hospitalizations that will soon overwhelm their already overworked healthcare system. This is where the bigger harm is happening. Choosing not to be immunized against COVID-19 harms us all. We risk more shutdowns and economic challenges. We will have the need to mask again, more healthcare workers will burn out, and the risk of a more harmful variant than Delta increases.
But the big questions many people have now are about the vaccines and if they work. The headlines can make it seem like they don’t. It is no surprise to me that the vaccines don’t prevent 100% transmission to others, especially with the strength of the Delta variant. The vaccines aren’t perfect. From the beginning they were only 95% effective. The good news is that vaccines do prevent most severe infections needing hospitalizations. Remember that 95% of people hospitalized now are in the unvaccinated.
Along with the many who have not been vaccinated, the other two big changes effecting the numbers now are the rise of the Delta variant and the big shift in behaviors over the past few months, such as less mask wearing and social distancing. These have shifted us away from the brief reprieve we had just a month ago. What this means to me is going back to our basics- mask wearing indoors, if you want to visit outdoors without a mask, make sure the area is well ventilated. Watch out for those indoor birthday parties!
The big news about the outbreak in Cape Cod is interesting, but not necessarily alarming. Yes, 75% of the estimated 900 infected were vaccinated, but there were no deaths and the outbreak seems contained and is no longer spreading. The vaccines still protect almost all from severe illness and death, except in the more vulnerable older patients and those with conditions putting them at risk.
I will write more about the outbreak in Cape Cod, how to think about safety , and vaccine hesitancy and how we might be able to help, in the next few days. So much data and news this week that I think it is best to break it into smaller bites.
For now, wash your hands, cover your nose indoors and maybe outdoors if crowded, and don’t forget to keep safe six.
And finally, my caveat is that this is my experience and my opinions, which are subject to change as more information is available, and not related to the organization I work for. Thanks for reading.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/30/health/cdc-vaccinated-delta.html?action=click&module=Spotlight&pgtype=Homepage
https://www.webmd.com/lung/news/20210726/breakthrough-cases-rising-with-delta-heres-what-that-means
https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2021/07/29/cdc-mask-guidance/
https://www.nytimes.com/article/covid-vaccine-masks.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/25/health/coronavirus-vaccine-refusal.html?action=click&module=Spotlight&pgtype=Homepage
https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2021/07/coronavirus-breakthrough-infections/619416/
https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/nation/cdc-study-shows-three-fourths-of-people-infected-in-massachusetts-covid-19-outbreak-were-vaccinated/
https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/rarely-covid-vaccine-breakthrough-infections-can-be-severe-who-s-n1274164
https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#county-view
https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2021/07/anatomy-of-a-vaccine-breakthrough/619562/
https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/the-war-has-changed-internal-cdc-document-urges-new-messaging-warns-delta-infections-likely-more-severe/
https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/rarely-covid-vaccine-breakthrough-infections-can-be-severe-who-s-n1274164
https://context-cdn.washingtonpost.com/notes/prod/default/documents/8a726408-07bd-46bd-a945-3af0ae2f3c37/note/57c98604-3b54-44f0-8b44-b148d8f75165.#page=1