Though I resolutely disagree with Joseph G. Allen’s claim that we need to be moving toward unmasking anywhere, especially now, I was thankful to read his call for clarity of messaging around other public health interventions in his Dec. 16 op-ed, “Our covid playbook is outdated. Here’s how we fix it.”
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Mr. Allen’s piece suggested what many public health experts have been saying all along: Tackling this virus requires effective governmental leadership. There is, as he says, a “hierarchy to control strategies,” and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention must do more to communicate clearly about how protective each strategy is and to provide guidance on how we might effectively layer them. N95s are useful as one-way personal protective equipment: They should be made freely available to all who want them. Ventilation and air filtration can protect people from airborne diseases, including the coronavirus: Occupational Safety and Health Administration regulations should include standards for ventilation in every industry, and governmental programs must support technological transitions required for air cleaning.
It is true, as Mr. Allen wrote, that vaccination has changed the game: It has turned focus inappropriately on individual intervention rather than on public policy. The coming year must be the year that we act collectively and demand more of our leaders.
Zoey Thill, New York
Read the letter on The Washington Post