COVID-19 ‘whiplash’ is messing with Southern California’s psyche

Andrew Noymer, professor of public health at UC Irvine, said it’s not the reversals that were notable out of the federal government’s shifts on COVID last week. Rather, it was the need for more transparency. “I don’t mind the flip-flopping so much because of the data. It was a calculated risk to tell people that they can unmask if they are vaccinated,” said Noymer, an epidemiologist. “It’s the way flip-flopping has been communicated. I’d like transparency to be a hallmark of the public response.” [Subscription required, campus-wide access provided by UCI Libraries. Sign-up here: https://guides.lib.uci.edu/news/ocregister]