COVID-19 vaccines’ flaws dash hopes of reaching herd immunity

In the early days, top health officials warned that face masks weren’t effective. Now, masks are the backbone, with vaccines, of the global virus containment strategy. Fifteen days to stop the spread, the original shutdown in spring 2020, has turned into a vicious two-year debate over stay-at-home policies.

The government rushed to buy ventilators. It pumped billions of dollars into purchasing more than 100,000 units in spring 2020 only to realize that doctors were having success with other treatments, such as steroids.

Contact tracing, which was supposed to be the silver bullet in summer 2020, before vaccines were available, burned out as Americans refused to divulge much information about their recent contacts.

Hydroxychloroquine, a malaria treatment that President Trump pushed and initially approved as an effective COVID-19 defense, had emergency use authorization revoked after studies found it was doing more harm than good.

Vaccines’ fast-waning protection has disappointed experts, who are now debating whether to recommend that Americans get their fourth mRNA shots from Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna in a little over a year.

Now, as the omicron variant sweeps the globe, variant “stealth omicron” may be next.