The messaging on masks and vaccines has been weak to say the least.

[Silent3]

37. Disinfo is terribly effective in a lot of other countries

That's how Putin stays in power. That's a big part of why the Middle East is so fucked up.

If you want to only compare the US to other wealthy Western countries, yes, the US does seem to do worse. I'd guess that's because American culture had long had a particular strong anti-intellectual streak, and more religious fundamentalism.

What to do about it? Well, "better messaging" isn't enough. Where applicable, however, it's still within the scope of well-protected First Amendment rights to hold people accountable for incitement to riot, abusing the legal system (like many of Trump's lawyers), slander, libel, practicing medicine without a license, willful spread of disinformation with intent to cause harm (with "intent" be the part that is tricky, but not impossible, to prove), etc.