America Needs to Lock Down Again to Control the Coronavirus | Foreign Affairs
The best outcome in Act III will be the development and distribution of the vaccine as quickly and widely as possible, without shortcuts on safety or testing for effectiveness. The U.S. government should establish and publicize the criteria by which a vaccine will be considered ready for wide-scale public use as well as make clear which groups of people will receive the vaccine first. A proven safe and effective vaccine should first be given to physicians, hospital personnel, and first responders; then to essential workers with underlying risks for serious disease; and after that, to children so that they can stay in school.
But right now, the United States should just be trying to get through the rest of Act II the coronavirus winter and hold out until the arrival of a vaccine-enabled spring. It must impose severe lockdowns to truly curb the spread of the disease. New York has shown it can be done. It remains to be seen whether the rest of the country possesses the collective grit and determination to follow suit. A happy ending to this drama will very much be determined by how Americans decide to craft the rest of this current act.
Or rather, the place that used to be NYC.