The COVID-19 pandemic illustrates how waiting for a painless policy can allow a crisis to worsen. Before vaccines were available, the choice is framed as politically unpopular lockdowns or accepting that more people would die. The personal example involves a mother and sister with severe asthma who were shielding, which made avoiding exposure a direct family concern. That risk led to the same shielding precautions and continued masking even after vaccination. The passage gives the later defence-policy comparison a concrete public-policy example in which every available course carries a cost.
Notable Point · 28:31-30:18
COVID-19 lockdowns as a no-good-choice example
The COVID-19 example frames lockdown policy as a choice between unpopular restrictions and the danger faced by medically vulnerable people before vaccines were available.