[maxsanic]

https://www.reuters.com/business/healthc...021-10-28/

The problem with all these drama, confusion and flip flops is really the over promising of the mRNA vaccine efficacy right at the start.

Put it this way, many people take flu vaccine shots every year as well, but lots of people still get it in the end, but there isn't much drama over it. Besides the fact common flu is not so deadly, there is also a very important factor which is everyone has a more realistic expectation on what a flu vaccine can do, i.e. it will help but is not the panacea of everything.

Contrast this with Pfizer and Moderna, going around promising the supposedly revolutionary mRNA technique which can increase efficacy to 95% infection protection, 92% critical condition and 93% death prevention (this sort of level is obviously very rare especially when we know that WHO only needs 50%). Rightly or wrongly common laymen who don't know much about virology including policy decision makers such as politicians / bureaucrats are given the impression that once vaccination is done they can expect a 95% reduction in new cases and among those infected vast majority should be all ok no need hospitalization close to zero deaths.

But as more and more real life data comes in, it doesn't seem to reflect the sales pitch. While definitely these vaccines do help to protect in statistically significant ways, it is nowhere near as what was being advertised and what was advertised was actually the basis of the decision to "live with COVID" in the first place. Unfortunately things have now come to what they are now and it's not possible to admit wrongdoing and turn back, so the only choice left is to double down the propaganda of "living with COVID" and restart another 3rd or even 4th shot of vaccination.

In an "ideal" world without China, everyone would most likely have accepted it as an incontrollable act of nature and live goes on. But now the problem is China is like this giant white elephant walking around the store and everyone is trying very hard not to acknowledge its presence. It's infection and death rate other than the initial burst when the virus was discovered are so preposterously low that any government that chooses the "live with COVID" way is forced to constantly consciously or subconsciously defend their decision at every turn.

In a strange sense this government legitimacy crisis isn't as bad in a lot of western democracies because government expectations are far lower (they value freedom and keeping the government's powers in check than public health). Not forming a moral judgement on who is right or wrong here, but that's the culture and social expectations over there. 

However here in Singapore we have a big problem. The Singapore government has always justified its authoritarian leanings and super high remuneration by invoking world class bleeding edge government effectiveness, i.e. the ability of the government to get things done at tip top standards, don't have gold also at least should have silver or bronze. That is the social contract Singaporeans have with the government - we tolerate your snobbishness, your curtailment of civil rights and pay you top dollar and in return you deliver top materialistic and creature comforts to us and our families. Singaporeans have also been very compliant and cooperative with government instructions compared to a the rest of world.

Unfortunately, all we have seen for the past two years is mediocre or at best, above average, pandemic handling results. There is only one way to do a decent job and still incur the wrath of your customers and that is to over promise. In Singapore's case, the gap between expectations and reality is gargantuanly wide, we expected minimally an A1 across all metrices if not a top in school medal, but ended up with a mix of B3 to C6 type of results across the board.