This commentary is by John Steen of South Burlington, who, before he retired, had a 20-year career in health planning, health regulation and public health, was a professor of health policy, and is immediate past president of the American Health Planning Association.
Like doctors of medicine, those of us who work in public health take responsibility for our patients, but our patients are whole communities, cities, states and nations.
This is a time when we are working overtime to warn everyone about the risks we put ourselves, our families and our neighbors in when we fail to exercise prudent precautions.
In doing that, we know that public ignorance is the disease most seriously afflicting our communities, and the popular media, including newspapers, fall short of providing an understanding sufficient to overcome it.
Information that is false, inaccurate or misleading according to the best available evidence at the time is rife in social media and across the internet (always consider the source!), and it makes up a large part of the ideologically driven polarization consuming us.
Too much of the news about public health is about restrictions imposed on the public rather than on the precautions that would obviate need for those restrictions. As many of us make plans for the holidays, let us do so wisely.
The Moderna and Pfizer mRNA vaccines have proven effectiveness against the new Omicron variant, but the J&J vaccine has not. Vermont has the highest rate of fully vaccinated people who have gotten boosters — 44.9% — according to the CDC’s Covid-19 vaccine distribution and administration data tracker. Our neighboring states are doing poorly: New York is at only 28.1%, and New Hampshire is the worst in the nation at 8.8%. “Live Free or Die” indeed!
In public health, it is unquestioned that masks provide a supplementary layer of protection that could prevent unnecessary Covid-19 deaths. Burlington and Williston have passed a full mask mandate for public indoor spaces, but South Burlington and Shelburne only require that they be worn in town buildings.
A KN95 mask is actually a respirator that filters out at least 95% of particles in the air. What’s more, it requires a 20-minute “fit test” to ensure proper fitting — and it does not provide adequate protection for people with facial hair. It is designed for one-time use.
To further promote understanding and respect for public health, the American Public Health Association has released a four-minute video overview of public health and how it benefits all Americans.
