1/ One of the biggest reasons why we had been pushing for #BetterMasks was because when you have a catastrophic surge like we are seeing in India-- you need the best personal protection you can get, *immediately* #covid19
2/ This was *always* about staying prepared.

Yes, we will have government leadership to blame. Yes, we need support from the state. Yes, epidemics are complex social, man-made disasters.

But at the end of it, if you can't breathe and you can't access a hospital bed- that's it.
3/ I'm a physician. Even now, in Boston, I have sent #covid19 patients to the ICU.

Every physician remembers the surges here. Every doctor and nurse knows what it is like to be at the bedside during times like this.

Watching videos out of India are frankly triggering for many
4/ We need to take preparedness seriously. If the data is suggesting that #covid19 is primarily driven by short-range aerosols; if we are seeing catastrophic surges around the world w/ new variants etc; we must be better prepared before we are due for our #covid19 boosters.
5/ Every American should have immediate, affordable, and durable access to high-filtration masks at any time. I'm done hearing about production issues and shortages-- it's been over a year FFS.

As @sri_srikrishna says, this is like having a fire extinguisher in your home.
6/ Right now, with vaccinations severely lagging in India- with supply shortages, export bans on critical vaccine components, overwhelmed healthcare systems w/ patients literally dying before even making it to a hospital bed--we should be furious, both at Modi gov & intl response
7/ But our fury and frustration don't change what is happening to patients in India right now. This is serious tragedy, & it should be a stark reminder to the world that we must take pandemic *preparedness* seriously - that means esp when we have low numbers of cases(!) #covid19
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