Whatever the mortality rate of COVID 19, containment is VITAL

[pat_k]

5. I guess I think of any effort...

... to prevent uncontrolled spread as "containment"...

You are right. The CDC testing cock up allowed it to circulate for weeks undetected. I just hope efforts finally underway have a positive effect in mitigating.

Also, until we have a better handle on the speed with which SARS-CoV-2 undergoes genetic change, we can't predict how effective a vaccine would even be. Annual vaccines don't do a good job of preventing H3N2 because it undergoes change at a higher speed than other strains (at least that's my understanding).

On edit.
On poking around a little, it sounds more complex than that. A bit from the CDC on why vaccines aren't as effective against H3N2 here.