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social, health, political imagery through the lens of G J Huba PhD © 2012-2021

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Now that the physicians and virologists and Big Pharma have put together effective vaccines we need to get the vaccine into the arms of our fellow citizens. People are nervous about the fact that the super-fast development of a vaccine may have been possible by not taking the same care as has been provided in the past. They fear possible side effects and wonder if researchers have fully studied and discovered all of the potential problems. Horrible mistakes from the past were made when white scientists used black populations as their test subjects, often giving people dangerous drugs without any information about problems or any informed consent protections. Some don’t think that the information they provide during the vaccination process will be stored on computers by doctors or health organizations or the government for future research.

Behavioral scientists can easily notice issues like the one I discussed in this tweet on 12/18/2020.

The bottom line is that physicians and nurses spend decades in training and clinical residencies about how to treat patients once they come in the door to the hospital, clinic, or office. Their excellence is second to none.

The second bottom line is that both behavioral research and clinical behavioral workers spend decades in training and supervised experience in getting people to evaluate and trust medical professionals, treatments, and aftercare, and then come through the door at the hospital, clinic, or office. Their excellence is second to none.

The US national covid response committee formed by President-elect Biden is comprised of physicians and a few epidemiologists with public health degrees (and without medical degrees). In general, this group is inexperienced in reassuring patients and getting them to accept treatments that appear scary.

To develop the best possible covid response we need to include behavioral scientists (psychologists, social workers, public health facilitators, community organizations, counselors, and many others) on the advisory panels and in the implementation of the covid response. Someone afraid to walk through the door or not. convinced that a vaccine works is not coming in for an injection.

The issues and a possible plan for implementation are summarized below. Click the mind map to expand it.


or the same map in an alternate color scheme.
 
 

 

The response to the pandemic was botched in just about every way imaginable by the national, state and territory, and government agencies.

If there was a way to make things worse one or the other political party espoused it.

Covid was turned political as was mask-wearing and social distancing.

Half of America wanted to sit inside isolating themselves and working at home why still earning their salaries. Once in a while, they would come out to protest the lack of civil rights and related issues. They would wear masks and preach to non-mask wearers. And then go order online meals from restaurants and goods from Amazon. Having kids at home rather than in school or daycare became a major hassle because parents were trying hard to work at home. When distressed they could talk on video chats with their friends and families on their i-devices with fast Internet connections.

The other half wanted to go to restaurants, go to bars, go to grandmother’s house, and go to work, too. Many were unemployed and given insufficient emergency unemployment benefits and they wanted jobs not just for money but also for the social support from their work friends and the sense of belonging and self-worth a job provides. Many could not afford food and rent. On top of all of these stressors, it seemed hopeless because their major sources of emotional support were their family and friends and isolation meant they could not get necessary advice, counseling, and assistance from families and friends and those invaluable hugs from their family members. They had to deal with all of the issues associated with being poor (many for the first time) in the world’s richest country.

They fought over who would lead the country, whether those in-need should be represented by politicians from one of the two groups, who had access to what, whether taxes should pay for sufficient amounts of different types of services for those in need, and just about everything else.

The outcome of fighting and feeling bad and being angry and having to wait in food lines and having to provide homeschooling to their kids and worrying about their retirement and facing eviction and being unable to talk intimately with friends and family face-to-face clobbered the American people in both groups. In response they clobbered each other.

The outcome was inevitable.

 

Every little bit of time wearing masks will help you and me and our neighbors. Every little bit of aid to pay for food and housing and security will help you and me and our neighbors. Excusing medical expenses (through government payment) will help you and me and our neighbors. And the list goes and on. For each and every service there are direct and indirect ways that the service will help you and me and our neighbors.

We need to get our act together as a nation and as individuals. There is not a lot of time left. And if you think that vaccines are going to save us from our disorganization and hopelessness and hostility and stubborn behavior, you are deluding yourself. Full vaccine coverage will not come about until the beginning of 2022 or later and may never if a substantial percentage of Americans refuse to accept vaccination.

We are failing ourselves and our neighbors.

Time is running out. But we can still help you and me and our neighbors and maybe the rest of the world.

Let’s try.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The dreaded day has reached us in the United States.

On November 19, 2020, death 250,000 occurred in the United States.

On December 14, 2020, less than a month later, death 300,000 occurred in the United States. Current statistical models indicate that a new spike in coronavirus deaths is just starting.

Whether you have been vaccinated or not, had an episode of COVID-19 or not, or have high-risk factors that might make you susceptible to COVID-19 episodes in the future there are measures you can take to minimize your chances to get infected for the first time or a later recurrence.

Use a mask, socially distance, wash your hands, and use some COMMON SENSE. Everyone will need to keep doing all of these behavioral interventions for a currently unknown time.

The following diagram shows how we got to MORE THAN 300,000 DEATHS FROM COVID-19 in the USA.



 

300,000 souls should not have been lost. We could have avoided the wildfire of COVID-19 infections. We didn’t. 

Our highest priority should be for every person on the planet to work their hardest to make sure that COVID-19 transmission is slowed and then stopped.

To the lost family, friends, acquaintances, and those we will never know, we cherish your shortened lives and ask the Almighty Power that you rest in peace.

In the next 20 years, the world will experience significant change. After the shock of the coronavirus pandemic and its consequences, everyone alive knows that significant changes must be made in the next 20 years to our governments, distribution of services and wealth and opportunities. We must integrate all global development with a restoration of the global environment as it was before the industrial revolution.

It’s a hard job. The change itself will provide numerous opportunities. The creative destruction of what is wrong and the creative building of what is right will be fun to observe and participate in. Hope will spring out as we get a lot of the things right that we screwed up the first time.

Here’s what we gotta do. It’s possible. It will be fun and rewarding to fix.

Click on the mind map to expand the start of a plan and an emerging roadmap.

This is what we have to achieve this time. The inclusion of all. The distribution of services to all. A high-quality of life for all.

The healthcare professionals and those that support them are an incredible team.

They have the hardest jobs to do during the pandemic. Let’s give them the support they deserve. Every one of us must try as hard as possible to not force these over-tired people to have to do even more heroic acts.

Wear a mask.

Socially isolate.

Wash your hands.

Stop acting like a spoiled baby. Stay well, don’t overload our hospitals, protect our All-Star Team. We owe it to them.

Let’s help them win this war.

If other words come to mind that you would like me to try to add to the mind map, please tweet them to me at @DrHubaEvaluator or post them here.

Click on the mind map below to go to a highly related post that discusses the individual positions people in our All-Star team play. The full, additional post will appear in a new window and contains a description of the mind map.