This dialogue is a huge breath of fresh air!
Eager to hear your thoughts on vaccine efficacy. I read the US FDA approval this week, and it cites the same 170 case phase III trial from December 10th. No statistical significance which is shocking because hundreds of millions have the vaccine now, why not use real-world data? It's like the mask debate: it should be super easy to prove efficacy with 3 1/2 billion people following along. That's more than enough sample size to clearly demonstrate efficacy. However, for some reason, our global governments continue to use studies of plastic dummies in air-sealed labs instead.
The other end is the lack of discussion of alternatives and risks. I've read some really scary things on the bacteria/virus that fester inside of a cloth mask after just an hour or two. Several have been shown to cause disease with a higher fatality rate than covid by a significant multiple (Streptococcus). This seems counterproductive - again maybe there are tests that prove it's a non-issue, but more discussion would help. Continuing to use studies with absurd controls that don't apply to the real world makes nerds like me suspicious.