Since when did we believe that people would do what’s medically right?

• The CDC is recommending that vaccinated people wear masks again in some states.
• COVID vaccines, already in use, have not received full FDA approval.
• Every family physiican should be recommending COVID vaccinations.
• Telehealth had been decling but mat rise again because of COVID.
• In the meantime pharma is complaing about global tax proposals.
• There is still a lot of vaccine misinformation on social media.

Today the CDC is recommending that vaccinated people wear masks in states that have high COVID rates. Economists are saying that this “second wave” of COVID will put the brakes on the economy, and supply chains will become even more constrained. COVID is back with a vengeance, and anger over the unvaccinated is growing.

The COVID-19 vaccine received emergency use authorization from the FDA months ago and has yet to receive full approval, which could lead to more people getting vaccinated. In May, a Kaiser Family Foundation poll found that about a third of people who have not been vaccinated said they would more likely get vaccinated if one of the vaccines got full approval from the FDA.

While some TV spots encourage vaccination, it’s a far cry from the type of campaign needed. Every family physician, for example, should be contacting their patients to encourage them to get vaccinated. Instead, people at a Trump rally in Arizona were not wearing masks in what can best be described as a super spreader event.

Virtual doctor visits had been declining as I forecasted they would, but now they could climb again. Patients were returning for the care pushed off when the pandemic hit, quarterly earnings reports out this week from hospital operators show, but that’s also going to slow.

And where is pharma? Pharma executives, lobbyists, and consultants are mobilizing to fight what has become a threat to drug companies’ bottom lines: a sweeping agreement by many of the world’s biggest economies to harmonize corporate taxation around the globe better. Why haven’t CEOs bound together and gone on the offensive against vaccine misinformation?

YouTube, the accounts of six out of 12 anti-vaccine activists identified by the Center for Countering Digital Hate as being responsible for creating more than half the anti-vaccine content shared on social media are easily searchable and still posting videos. On Facebook, researchers at the left-leaning advocacy group Avaaz ran an experiment in June in which two brand-new accounts it set up were recommended 109 pages containing anti-vaccine information in just two days.

One conspiracy theory circulating online for months is that coronavirus vaccines will be used to embed microchips in the arms of every American. A YouGov poll released July 15 showed that 20 percent of U.S. adults believed the chip falsehood was probably or definitely true. Ha?

In a Times editorial, a physician recently said, “how dare unvaccinated patients put my team and me at risk”. He’s partially right. As I wrote yesterday, there are many reasons for not getting vaccinated, and ignorance and stupidity certainly rank up there. Still, many poor people and those with physical problems may have challenges getting vaccinated.

As I talked to some healthcare thought leaders, I heard a consistent theme. With full vaccination rates at roughly 49%, the resurgence of COVID was bound to happen, but after a long lockdown, people are anxious to get back to normal. Another said, “since when did we believe that people would do what’s medically right for themselves?” He’s right.

Originally published at https://worldofdtcmarketing.com on July 27, 2021.