Off the rails

A quick addendum to yesterday's post.

Dr. Tom Friedman, former head of the CDC, says the agency's move is well outside of norms for the agency.

This is not par for the course. This is unprecedented.

And, William, the fact is that the virus does not respond to spin. The virus responds to science. And these two moves taken together are very concerning.

They're concerning in particular for what's going to happen in the coming weeks and months with the rollout of a vaccine against COVID, because although a vaccine is the single most important thing we can have to protect ourselves against the virus, it's not going to be quick, it's not going to be simple, and getting people to take a vaccine requires a lot of trust and confidence.