{"id":49568,"date":"2021-02-10T19:35:03","date_gmt":"2021-02-10T18:35:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/?p=49568"},"modified":"2021-02-15T19:27:58","modified_gmt":"2021-02-15T18:27:58","slug":"abraar-karan-give-people-better-tools-to-stop-viral-transmission-and-trust-that-they-will-use-them","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2021\/02\/10\/abraar-karan-give-people-better-tools-to-stop-viral-transmission-and-trust-that-they-will-use-them\/","title":{"rendered":"Abraar Karan: Give people better tools to stop viral transmission, and trust that they will use them"},"content":{"rendered":"

If public health systems don\u2019t trust individuals, individuals will also not trust public health, writes Abraar Karan<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"The covid-19 pandemic has come to a turning point. We are in a race to both vaccinate against and<\/span> control the virus; the latter is a means of protecting the efforts of the former. The generation of new SARS-CoV-2<\/span> variants is perpetuated by <\/span>selective pressures<\/span><\/a> that arise from the virus\u2019s <\/span>unmitigated spread<\/span><\/a>, as well as potentially by <\/span>incomplete vaccination<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

While <\/span>good news<\/span><\/a> has recently come out about the use of<\/span> additional vaccines, including <\/span>Novavax<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>Johnson & Johnson<\/span><\/a>, there are<\/span> valid concerns about <\/span>early data<\/span><\/a> that show vaccine efficacy is significantly reduced to around <\/span>60% against a<\/span><\/a> new variant called B.1.351 from South Africa. As the US and Europe continue to struggle with mounting an adequate pandemic response, this variant was <\/span>officially reported<\/span><\/a> for the first time in South Carolina last month, adding increased urgency to an already dire situation. Given our limited <\/span>genomic surveillance<\/span><\/a> in the US, it\u2019s likely that the variant was here even prior to this discovery.<\/span><\/p>\n

All eyes are now focused on countries rolling out efficient <\/span>vaccination<\/span><\/a> campaigns, but amid this zeal, there has been less attention given to the other equally important goal: urgently slowing down transmission. In the US, some commentators have<\/span> even suggested that<\/span> a <\/span>circuit-breaker<\/span><\/a> like <\/span>intervention<\/span><\/a>\u2014<\/span>as is happening in the UK with the national lockdown\u2014<\/span>is needed now to reduce cases spreading in the community.<\/span> \u00a0 \u00a0 <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Earlier in the pandemic, fundamental response strategies were employed, including test, trace, isolate, support (financially and otherwise), and mask; yet<\/span> in the US, like most places of the world, these interventions were not done sufficiently, were inadequately enforced, and were also never significantly improved upon. Scaling up testing (including smarter use of <\/span>rapid tests<\/span><\/a>), employing digital tracing to increase speed (along with<\/span> sufficient uptake<\/span><\/a> among the public<\/span>), and providing<\/span> better <\/span>isolation options<\/span><\/a> outside the home (or <\/span>financial incentives<\/span><\/a> to isolate effectively at home) are all important efforts. A recent idea that my<\/span> colleagues and I have been pushing for is to get the public <\/span>better masks<\/span><\/a>\u2014high filtration, better fitting options, including high grade medical respirators, as are being used in <\/span>parts of Europe<\/span><\/a> now. We have been <\/span>advocating for these<\/span><\/a> since the beginning of the pandemic, especially when it became apparent that testing, tracing, and isolating could not keep pace with the virus\u2019s<\/span> spread in the US.<\/span><\/p>\n

One of the key problems is that our public health efforts continue to suffer from paternalism toward the public. Rather than focusing on risk mitigation\u2014giving the public every tool to reduce the chance of transmission\u2014many leaders have fallen prey to the fear of <\/span>risk compensation<\/span><\/a>\u2014that giving people better tools will lead to them behaving more carelessly. This mistake was made with masks <\/span>early on<\/span><\/a>, with some officials worried that public masking would lead to less physical distancing. <\/span>Currently, a different version of this is at play, with senior US officials cautioning against<\/a> getting people high filtration masks. Officials are warning people may not wear these masks because they are harder to breathe through, rather than letting people decide for themselves what is tolerable transient discomfort to protect their health.<\/span><\/p>\n

This past weekend, when the Super Bowl was played in the US, a similar paternalism was at work again. While California <\/span>recently<\/span><\/a> opened up outdoor dining, officials <\/span>banned<\/span><\/a> outdoor televisions in Los Angeles County, meaning people could not watch the Super Bowl outdoors. Instead, I personally know of many people who decided to gather indoors with friends. Rather than creating safer options to socialize, the county\u2019s public health decision to ban outdoor TVs gave a mixed message: you can safely eat outdoors, but you can\u2019t do so with televisions on because we don\u2019t trust you with that. If public health systems don\u2019t trust individuals, individuals will also not trust public health. And <\/span>lack of trust<\/span><\/a> is ultimately what <\/span>breaks down<\/span><\/a> pandemic<\/span> responses.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Underestimating people\u2019s <\/span>need to stay socially connected<\/span><\/a> is also a mistake\u2014it is a human necessity as much as any other and people have made that clear this past year. At this point, for public health authorities to just say \u201cStay Home\u201d is essentially a cop-out for having to create smarter strategies that can achieve both goals of viral control and social connectedness. I have now treated countless patients who are suffering from loneliness, suicidality, and the worsening of other chronic conditions because they are continuing to live in isolation.<\/span><\/p>\n

Our goal must be to vaccinate, but we also need<\/span> to give people all the tools necessary to stop ongoing viral transmission. Assuming that the public<\/span> are not trustworthy of these tools is a mistake we can\u2019t afford to keep making.<\/span> If it carries on,<\/span> we risk losing the public\u2019s trust and damaging public health in a more permanent way.<\/span><\/p>\n

Abraar Karan<\/strong> is an internal medicine physician at the Brigham and Women\u2019s Hospital\/Harvard Medical School and a columnist at <\/em><\/span><\/i>The BMJ<\/span>. He previously worked on the covid-19 response in Massachusetts state. The views expressed here are his own and do not represent those of his employers. <\/em><\/span><\/i>Twitter @AbraarKaran<\/a><\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Competing interests:<\/strong> None declared.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If public health systems don\u2019t trust individuals, individuals will also not trust public health, writes Abraar Karan […]<\/p>\n

More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":419,"featured_media":49569,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18906,1357],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-49568","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-abraar-karan","category-us-health-care"],"yoast_head":"\nAbraar Karan: Give people better tools to stop viral transmission, and trust that they will use them - The BMJ<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2021\/02\/10\/abraar-karan-give-people-better-tools-to-stop-viral-transmission-and-trust-that-they-will-use-them\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Abraar Karan: Give people better tools to stop viral transmission, and trust that they will use them - The BMJ\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"If public health systems don\u2019t trust individuals, individuals will also not trust public health, writes Abraar Karan [...]More...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2021\/02\/10\/abraar-karan-give-people-better-tools-to-stop-viral-transmission-and-trust-that-they-will-use-them\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The BMJ\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/bmjdotcom\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-02-10T18:35:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-02-15T18:27:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2021\/02\/bar_california_PA-56443839.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"540\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"350\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"kellybrendel\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@bmj_latest\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@bmj_latest\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"kellybrendel\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/10\\\/abraar-karan-give-people-better-tools-to-stop-viral-transmission-and-trust-that-they-will-use-them\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/10\\\/abraar-karan-give-people-better-tools-to-stop-viral-transmission-and-trust-that-they-will-use-them\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"kellybrendel\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/d634d72476ce60014b19ed2db4ae3760\"},\"headline\":\"Abraar Karan: Give people better tools to stop viral transmission, and trust that they will use them\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-02-10T18:35:03+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-02-15T18:27:58+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/10\\\/abraar-karan-give-people-better-tools-to-stop-viral-transmission-and-trust-that-they-will-use-them\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":885,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/10\\\/abraar-karan-give-people-better-tools-to-stop-viral-transmission-and-trust-that-they-will-use-them\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/files\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/bar_california_PA-56443839.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Abraar Karan\",\"US healthcare\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/10\\\/abraar-karan-give-people-better-tools-to-stop-viral-transmission-and-trust-that-they-will-use-them\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/10\\\/abraar-karan-give-people-better-tools-to-stop-viral-transmission-and-trust-that-they-will-use-them\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/10\\\/abraar-karan-give-people-better-tools-to-stop-viral-transmission-and-trust-that-they-will-use-them\\\/\",\"name\":\"Abraar Karan: Give people better tools to stop viral transmission, and trust that they will use them - The BMJ\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/10\\\/abraar-karan-give-people-better-tools-to-stop-viral-transmission-and-trust-that-they-will-use-them\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/10\\\/abraar-karan-give-people-better-tools-to-stop-viral-transmission-and-trust-that-they-will-use-them\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/files\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/bar_california_PA-56443839.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-02-10T18:35:03+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-02-15T18:27:58+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/10\\\/abraar-karan-give-people-better-tools-to-stop-viral-transmission-and-trust-that-they-will-use-them\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/10\\\/abraar-karan-give-people-better-tools-to-stop-viral-transmission-and-trust-that-they-will-use-them\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/10\\\/abraar-karan-give-people-better-tools-to-stop-viral-transmission-and-trust-that-they-will-use-them\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/files\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/bar_california_PA-56443839.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/files\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/bar_california_PA-56443839.jpg\",\"width\":540,\"height\":350,\"caption\":\"November 3, 2020, San Francisco, California, USA: Scattered crowds sat out on patio bars in San Francisco's Castro neighborhood to watch early results of the 2020 elections. (Credit Image: \u00a9 John OrvisZUMA Wire)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/10\\\/abraar-karan-give-people-better-tools-to-stop-viral-transmission-and-trust-that-they-will-use-them\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Abraar Karan: Give people better tools to stop viral transmission, and trust that they will use them\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/\",\"name\":\"The BMJ\",\"description\":\"Helping doctors make better decisions.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"The BMJ\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/files\\\/2018\\\/05\\\/The-BMJ-logo.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/files\\\/2018\\\/05\\\/The-BMJ-logo.jpg\",\"width\":852,\"height\":568,\"caption\":\"The BMJ\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/bmjdotcom\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/bmj_latest\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/d634d72476ce60014b19ed2db4ae3760\",\"name\":\"kellybrendel\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/4e35f22486ccca5430679be45c0b31ada51650038ef38f08b0d342bd1af4c377?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/4e35f22486ccca5430679be45c0b31ada51650038ef38f08b0d342bd1af4c377?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/4e35f22486ccca5430679be45c0b31ada51650038ef38f08b0d342bd1af4c377?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"kellybrendel\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/author\\\/kellybrendel\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Abraar Karan: Give people better tools to stop viral transmission, and trust that they will use them - The BMJ","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2021\/02\/10\/abraar-karan-give-people-better-tools-to-stop-viral-transmission-and-trust-that-they-will-use-them\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Abraar Karan: Give people better tools to stop viral transmission, and trust that they will use them - The BMJ","og_description":"If public health systems don\u2019t trust individuals, individuals will also not trust public health, writes Abraar Karan [...]More...","og_url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2021\/02\/10\/abraar-karan-give-people-better-tools-to-stop-viral-transmission-and-trust-that-they-will-use-them\/","og_site_name":"The BMJ","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/bmjdotcom\/","article_published_time":"2021-02-10T18:35:03+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-02-15T18:27:58+00:00","og_image":[{"width":540,"height":350,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2021\/02\/bar_california_PA-56443839.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"kellybrendel","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@bmj_latest","twitter_site":"@bmj_latest","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"kellybrendel","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2021\/02\/10\/abraar-karan-give-people-better-tools-to-stop-viral-transmission-and-trust-that-they-will-use-them\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2021\/02\/10\/abraar-karan-give-people-better-tools-to-stop-viral-transmission-and-trust-that-they-will-use-them\/"},"author":{"name":"kellybrendel","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/#\/schema\/person\/d634d72476ce60014b19ed2db4ae3760"},"headline":"Abraar Karan: Give people better tools to stop viral transmission, and trust that they will use them","datePublished":"2021-02-10T18:35:03+00:00","dateModified":"2021-02-15T18:27:58+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2021\/02\/10\/abraar-karan-give-people-better-tools-to-stop-viral-transmission-and-trust-that-they-will-use-them\/"},"wordCount":885,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2021\/02\/10\/abraar-karan-give-people-better-tools-to-stop-viral-transmission-and-trust-that-they-will-use-them\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2021\/02\/bar_california_PA-56443839.jpg","articleSection":["Abraar Karan","US healthcare"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2021\/02\/10\/abraar-karan-give-people-better-tools-to-stop-viral-transmission-and-trust-that-they-will-use-them\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2021\/02\/10\/abraar-karan-give-people-better-tools-to-stop-viral-transmission-and-trust-that-they-will-use-them\/","url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2021\/02\/10\/abraar-karan-give-people-better-tools-to-stop-viral-transmission-and-trust-that-they-will-use-them\/","name":"Abraar Karan: Give people better tools to stop viral transmission, and trust that they will use them - The BMJ","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2021\/02\/10\/abraar-karan-give-people-better-tools-to-stop-viral-transmission-and-trust-that-they-will-use-them\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2021\/02\/10\/abraar-karan-give-people-better-tools-to-stop-viral-transmission-and-trust-that-they-will-use-them\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2021\/02\/bar_california_PA-56443839.jpg","datePublished":"2021-02-10T18:35:03+00:00","dateModified":"2021-02-15T18:27:58+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2021\/02\/10\/abraar-karan-give-people-better-tools-to-stop-viral-transmission-and-trust-that-they-will-use-them\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2021\/02\/10\/abraar-karan-give-people-better-tools-to-stop-viral-transmission-and-trust-that-they-will-use-them\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2021\/02\/10\/abraar-karan-give-people-better-tools-to-stop-viral-transmission-and-trust-that-they-will-use-them\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2021\/02\/bar_california_PA-56443839.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2021\/02\/bar_california_PA-56443839.jpg","width":540,"height":350,"caption":"November 3, 2020, San Francisco, California, USA: Scattered crowds sat out on patio bars in San Francisco's Castro neighborhood to watch early results of the 2020 elections. (Credit Image: \u00a9 John OrvisZUMA Wire)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2021\/02\/10\/abraar-karan-give-people-better-tools-to-stop-viral-transmission-and-trust-that-they-will-use-them\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Abraar Karan: Give people better tools to stop viral transmission, and trust that they will use them"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/#website","url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/","name":"The BMJ","description":"Helping doctors make better decisions.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/#organization","name":"The BMJ","url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2018\/05\/The-BMJ-logo.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2018\/05\/The-BMJ-logo.jpg","width":852,"height":568,"caption":"The BMJ"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/bmjdotcom\/","https:\/\/x.com\/bmj_latest"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/#\/schema\/person\/d634d72476ce60014b19ed2db4ae3760","name":"kellybrendel","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4e35f22486ccca5430679be45c0b31ada51650038ef38f08b0d342bd1af4c377?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4e35f22486ccca5430679be45c0b31ada51650038ef38f08b0d342bd1af4c377?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4e35f22486ccca5430679be45c0b31ada51650038ef38f08b0d342bd1af4c377?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"kellybrendel"},"url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/author\/kellybrendel\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49568","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/419"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49568"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49568\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49569"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49568"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49568"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49568"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}