There’s a great discussion in this morning NYTimes newsletter on why we’re seeing such a divided and divisive response to vaccination. The short version is that the CDC and public policy issued strict guidelines in what is actually a much more nuanced situation. The piece discusses what it means to US culture that our national guidelines for children’s COVID vaccinations were a global outlier – with the CDC taking a much more aggressive stance than pretty much any other country.

The Morning: Why do parents ignore the C.D.C. on Covid?:

Galea believes that the biggest drawback to the U.S. booster policy may be its effect on the C.D.C.’s credibility. When people who are already skeptical of expert advice, as many Americans are, see the C.D.C. insisting on a vaccine with a marginal benefit, they have more reason to question other C.D.C. guidance — such as the urgent importance of childhood vaccines against measles and diphtheria.

“There is a real cost to our not being honest,” Galea said.

It wasn’t honesty so much as it was not being candid enough about the mitigating factors. Candor. It’s been my experience that the public is not made up of children and the straightforward you are when trying to explain a situation, the more illuminating the subsequent public conversation becomes.

And it may be part of the reason that we are all so frustrated with “political-speak” rather than honest words from political figures. Just saying what someone is honestly thinking becomes so refreshing that it can dominate the public news cycle for days…