...Newsom did, however, point to differences in how the virus spread indoors versus outdoors, and alluded to policies around masking and vaccine distribution that would have been handled differently in hindsight. “You want to talk about prioritizations early on in terms of those vaccines. You go through a series of things, and there’s so many things we could’ve done differently,” he said.
In a recent interview on CNN, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, responded to a study that raised doubts about the effectiveness of face masks in curbing the spread of COVID-19. The study in question was released by The Cochrane Institute and received attention earlier this year when it suggested that face masks made little to no difference in preventing the spread of the virus. This led to headlines claiming that masks don't work.
However, Fauci emphasized that there are other studies that show the advantages of wearing masks, particularly at the individual level. ...
In its announcement today, the UK's Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization (JCVI) detailed the people who will be eligible to receive the vaccine in the fall—those most likely to benefit from vaccination. Aside from those ages 65 and older, the list includes people in nursing facilities and their caregivers, people ages 6 months to 64 who are in clinical risk groups, people ages 12 to 64 who are family contacts of immunocompromised people, and frontline health and social care workers.
...To harness this potentially transformative tool in future, policymakers and other stakeholders must heed the evidence — and the lessons — now emerging from its use during the COVID-19 pandemic.
