Most people outside of public health, even really informed people, still don't get that a vaccine approach "works" for you not just by changing you (you know - teaching your immune system stuff) but also by changing your context (less virus out there for you to run into). 1/2

COVID waves are not a force of nature. They are a force of policy. Shut things down, transmission decreases. Prematurely open up, transmission spikes into a wave. Waves are a choice. Will we choose a fifth wave? Leaders compromising with capital. It's policy - all the way down.

Learned a lot from this

Vaccine disparity between rich and poor countries is not only ethically unacceptable, it's also epidemiologically hazardous because the spread of Covid means increased risk of more dangerous variants.

"49.9% of the world population has received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. ... Only 3.9% of people in low-income countries have received at least one dose." ourworldindata.org/covid-vaccinat…

if you’re at Thanksgiving and someone says their decision to not get vaccinated doesn’t affect anyone else, cut your slice of pie like this to demonstrate how that is very untrue

An unvaccinated population—anywhere in the world—gives the virus more chances to mutate and evolve. And policies in wealthy countries—including purchasing and stockpiling more doses than needed—have made it harder to get people vaccinated, especially those in sub-Saharan Africa.

I used to make weekly announcements stating how there wasn't anything equitable in our vaccination approach. We will continue to have new variants until we take an equitable approach to vaccinating the world. Some counties have boosters while some await first doses.

Everybody is very optimistic about Omicron. I HOPE they're right. I FEAR they're prey to a statistical error, Simpson's Paradox:

If you don’t already own a good 😷 (N95/KN95/KF94) that fits well & is comfy enough to keep on, get off Twitter NOW & buy some. Non-profit @projectn95 is affordable, helpful, & vetted. Until you get them, surgical 😷 + cloth 😷 over it indoors in public immediately. #Omicron

This! If there's even a single minor modification you can make to your plans, do! Some ideas: * rapid test right beforehand * move outside * open windows * add an air purifier * reduce group size or event duration * require vax/booster * wear a mask as possible * skip one event

28 years after the genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, see the faces and hear the stories of survivors on Thursday's International Day of Reflection. bit.ly/2HZdOt1 #Kwibuka

Insightful and heartbreaking

In 1959, Eugene Ionesco wrote the absurdist play Rhinoceros in which one by one, an entire town of people suddenly transform into rhinos. At first, people are horrified but as the contagion spreads, (almost) everyone comes to accept that turning into a rhinoceros is fine. 1/

We did it! 🎉 ⁦ Julie M. Petersen⁩ ⁦Lynsie⁩ Rebecca Lauren and the unpictured ⁦⁦Holly Crowe⁩ ⁦Reese Sy⁩ ⁦Lade Ayodele⁩

Yesterday, walking down the street, I heard, “WTF. An elementary school?” That’s all, but I was SURE I knew what happened. I checked the news, and at that time it was 2 confirmed victims. I was and am chilled by how predictable that was.

New article alert! Research psychology? Psychiatric epidemiology?Ever wonder what the other group is talking about when they talk about SEM or DAGs? We've got you covered! Led by Zach Kunicki and Meghan Smith, we compare & contrast the two approaches: journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/25…

Check out a new discipline-bridging paper on DAGs and SEM! Honored to have worked on in this with Zach Kunicki and Dr Ellie Murray, ScD