Newsletter 
September 6, 2021
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Fall has yet to arrive, but already we hear warnings of a combined viral outbreak of influenza and COVID, despite the data. We parse through the conjecture to discern the facts.
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Once again, the CDC has revised its stance on masks, prompting a barrage of compliments and critiques. But the announcement was prompted not by data, rather by its absence.
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The alarm bells have rung, and the alarmists have spoken. COVID-19 is in resurgence. But to predict what this means – an aberration or a real trend – we should study the uncertainty.
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Of all the issues plaguing healthcare, none is more pressing than our inability to see healthcare as a complex system. As a result, we attribute fault to individuals for problems that are fundamentally systemic.
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The WHO has introduced nomenclature redefining COVID-19 variants to prevent prejudices formed during the pandemic. But a close examination reveals this prejudice to be systemic throughout healthcare.
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America is the land of optimism, with an undeniable taste for dystopian futures. One which pits technological advancements in medicine against personal liberties. A belief more pervasive and systemic than we think, extending well beyond the conspiratorial fringes of society.
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Data drives healthcare, whether it is individual decisions or broader health policies. But data only tells us what we know, or presume to know. Studying the uncertainty around data, in much the same way we study data, would reveal gaps in our knowledge, helping to better understand the data itself.
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The country has united in support of India. A unity nowhere to be found during our own COVID-19 crisis, revealing a critical contradiction in America that defines our society, and our ability to address healthcare inequity.
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Recently the Johnson & Johnson vaccine was placed on hold. We studied data to compare the risk of blood clots with the risk of vaccine availability. But instead of data, we should study our perceptions, particularly our perception of low probability events.
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The original battle tanks of antiquity, war elephants were famed for the terror they inflicted on the battlefield. And equally famed for falling apart once faced with uncertainty. Not unlike many of the perceived truths we take for granted in healthcare.
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News Briefs
Trivia
The Mahatma, an anti-vaxxer?
We chronicle the diaries of Mahatma Gandhi to learn about his personal views regarding vaccines.