Tom Meyvis
@tm12am
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Professor of Marketing at Stern School of Business, New York University. Studies consumer psychology, experimental research methods, and decision making.
New York City
Joined September 2011
Here's what Malaysia is doing: sending each poor family masks and tests. 7/7 https://t.co/XJAhkqWLV8
This is what the Malaysian government has provided to its lowest monthly income households since early December. Two packets of Rapid antigen tests, pulse oximeter, mask and thermometer. No fuss. No drama. Just leaving this here.
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It's expensive, but we spent trillions on stimulus to counter-act the economic effects of this pandemic. We're talking $1 tests here - we can have every child tested every day in school/at home so we can keep schools open without infecting parents/grand-parents. 6/
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Yes, it's easy to critique in hindsight, but investment in the cheap, abundant availability of quick tests and N95/KN95 masks, fast PCR processing capacity, air purification/ventilation in schools,... are so feasible & effective it's an outrage it hasn't happened. 5/
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Approval process should have been faster, easier (like in Europe where many more options were quickly available), and government should have aided/invested in the development of tests (& good masks!) as well as guaranteed demand. 4/
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It also didn't help that the production of tests & masks was left to the short-term interests of private enterprise. When demand for Abbott's self-tests was lower, they fired 2,000 factory workers and destroyed much of their inventory 3/ https://t.co/WPDgAbt8Kp
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Excellent @propublica (Nov!) article on why US self-tests are overpriced/scarce: absurd FDA approval process, no political urgency/flexibility, only approved 2 tests initially (incl. Abbott's). Doesn't help that FDA approver used to work for... Abbott 2/ https://t.co/UuGL3siKGH
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A month ago, this self-test kit sold for $4 in Europe, $24 at Walgreens, & $14 at Wal-Mart (now $20 & largely unavailable). It costs $1 for Abbott to produce a test. Serious price gouging by name brands during a public emergency. We need(ed) real competition & gvmt action🧵
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So if you're elderly with diabetes & asthma and have severe COVID symptoms, you are only allowed to receive this very scarce, effective, and coveted drug if you refused to be vaccinated? I understand the risk-based reasoning, but it doesn't feel great. https://t.co/D5arDkrwou
coronavirus.health.ny.gov
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Pfizer's Paxlovid is our best treatment for omicron complications. Unfortunately, NYC's limited allocation is already exhausted. Who's eligible to receive it? - immuno-compromised - nursing home residents - elderly with a risk factor BUT ONLY IF THEY HAVE NOT BEEN VACCINATED
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Needless to say, I ignored that. She kept testing and tested negative after 9 days. The point being that the CDC's disparaging of antigen tests (in part to obfuscate other reasons: not wanting ppl to stop masking or just lack of availability) can do some real damage. 7/7
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They told me "she should stop testing and gotten out of quarantine after 5 days since people test pos up to 90 days." Not with antigen tests! So, my Dr's office said that my likely contagious wife should stop quarantining from her immuno-compromised husband based on CDC BS. 6/
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This also affects MDs/RNs. My wife tested positive with a at-home antigen test and went into quarantine. When she was still testing positive with the antigen test 6 days later, I reached out to my Dr's office for advice since I'm severely immuno-compromised. 5/
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Or CDC's reluctance to push people to wear N95 masks instead of cloth/surgical. CDC seems to assume that saying this will lead those without N95 to stop wearing masks altogether. Would be nice if N95 were cheaper/more available, but obfuscation doesn't change reality. 4/
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We've seen these misleading communications from the CDC before. Like when they initially said that masks don't work because the virus will get through (while they actually didn't want people to hoard PPE as hospitals needed them). 3/
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CDC knows many are still contagious after 5 days & 2 neg antigen tests would rule this out. But bc tests are hard to find (partly bc of CDC & FDA policy) & bc they're afraid people will stop masking, they do not require the neg test (official argument: "it's not perfect"). 2/
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Another excellent article by @zeynep on how the CDC has let us down. A lot seems to come down to CDC officials making psychological assumptions rather than being straight with people. 🧵
nytimes.com
The government’s haphazard and disorganized response to Omicron doesn’t bode well.
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Hope...
A tale of two graphs…. Covid hospitalizations still rising steadily in NYC. BUT… positivity, while still extremely high, appears to be leveling off. Let’s push hard now to crush this.
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Excellent thread on Omicron from the always thoughtful @jburnmurdoch . Not alarmist, but also none of that “we should only care about deaths” BS so many seem fond to push.
NEW: first thread of 2022 is an Omicron situation update, starting with a detailed look at UK hospitals, before going international. Let’s start with severity, and the most important chart: Despite steep rises in cases and patients, the number on ventilators has barely risen.
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Omicron hospitalisation risk only one third of Delta (UK data). But confirmed cases have increased 4x to +10x in many places (NYC, Miami, DC, PR), without even counting most antigen tests. Still seems bad for health care (on top of staffing shortage) https://t.co/OIdPgRwulk
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Best (balanced and comprehensive) summary I've seen about what we know about omicron (so far) and how that affects cases, health care, etc.
This thing has rapidly become the world’s exasperating good news/bad news story. If your head isn’t spinning, you’re not paying attention. A 🧵on my take on both the good news & the bad, with an emphasis on the things that have changed in the past few days... or minutes.(1/25)
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