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Comment by stormking | Hacker News Reader

I don't understand this line of thinking. Voluntarily taking the shot yourself is completely different from making a "majority decision". Off course I got vaccinated, but I'm totally opposed to forcing it on people.

It is absolutely crazy how easy it was for our incompetent politicians to blame people WHO ARE NOT EVEN BREAKING ANY LAWS for their own disastrous communication (just remember those "mask are actually bad for you" talking points when there weren't any) and overall pandemic management.

They constantly lied to us on every step of the way and now they're surprised that some people don't trust them?

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> They constantly lied to us on every step of the way and now they're surprised that some people don't trust them?

I’m sorry to say this but that is just plain populist. I do agree that pandemic management surely wasn’t optimal, but insinuating malice is simply misplaced. The situation was chaotic because a pandemic is chaotic. Lots of federal offices that are known for being low-intensity workplaces - such as public health offices - suddenly had more work due than in the last 40 years combined. Politicians without any experience in managing world-scale catastrophes had to perform, often 80+ hours per week. International supply chains collapsed, decades of ridiculous IT politics started showing. Due to Germany‘s federalism, states had way too much sovereignty for way too long into the crisis. Public health institutions, healthcare professionals, Pharma companies - all had different opinions on what might be the best next step. Masks were not going to be deliverable in the quantities required to provide for the entire population. At some point, a decision had to be made to reserve contingencies for hospitals.

Solutions to all these problems may be obvious in hindsight, but I ask for a little respect to all the people that had to find them in a dynamic, completely unknown environment. Lots of things went smooth as fuck, you just didn’t notice because you took them for granted. We’re talking about humans after all.

>but insinuating malice is simply misplaced.

Maybe initially - but at this point?

Shall we talk about Sweden?

How about this South African doctors utter shock to Omicron by many western governments? https://twitter.com/KoenSwinkels/status/1465906474270531589

Yeah, at this point anyone overdramatizing COVID is doing so for purely political and financial purposes at this point.

If Omicron is indeed as mild as it appears then this is the path to heard immunity - not the vaccine. That would cut off the non-liable money train to big pharma though; in that context the disproportional response to omicron makes a hell of a lot more sense. The real threat it presents is to the perpetual vax/booster gravy train.

I agree that the real reasoning is political - it's all about saving face. But what's wrong with letting "big pharma" earn a dollar or two? They did a really great job, here, they're not selling snake oil and a vaccine is very likely still safer then even a "mild" variant of the disease.

> I’m sorry to say this but that is just plain populist.

No, it's a fact. I understand why they were lying about things, e.g. the usefulness of masks, but that doesn't make it less dishonest or patronizing.

You simply can't say one thing today, the opposite tomorrow and still expect people to just believe you the day after that.

And please don't buy into that "it's all new to us" narrative. Not knowing how to handle things is not a license to just make stuff up.

And if you still think you have to, at least remain consistent about it.

And if you can't do that either, at least don't complain when people don't trust you, anymore.

And if you have to complain about people not trusting you, anymore, at least don't blame them for the consequences OF YOUR OWN CLUSTERFUCK.

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