I really want to limit this discussion to more-or-less faithful members of the LDS church. It's going to focus on what we are taught vs. what the first presidency has recently said.

Here is the statement:

https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/first-presidency-message-covid-19-august-2021

Here's my 2 cents:

We have been taught since childhood that we only follow the prophet when he is inspired. The Holy Ghost will confirm for each of us whether the words he speaks are true.

We are never under any obligation to follow any teaching of the church unless it is confirmed by the Spirit to us. We can experiment with faith and see if a teaching or doctrine is true by trying it, but we are not saved or condemned based on our obedience to any law, except the ordinances of the gospel (faith, repentance. baptism, etc...) Remember that the Book of Mormon warns us not to teach more or less than this as the gospel.

We are not and never were a church of blind obedience first last and always. We are a church of revelation.

Speaking of which, nowhere did the FP say that this was a revelation. Nowhere did they cite any spiritual revelation or manifestation.

If they were dictating church policy, then as a church officer, I would be required to follow that policy, and if I could not for some reason, then I would best resign my position as an officer. But this is not that sort of message either. And besides, every change in policy has always had a "We prayed and received direction that..." clause on it.

As such, I treat this message the same as I treat any other message from a church leader that doesn't claim spiritual revelation: It goes in the round file as mere opinion. If I wanted the medical opinion of the first presidency, I would be paying them for their medical advice. If I wanted their legal opinion, I would be hiring them as a retainer for their legal advice. Since I have done none of those things, their opinion means nothing to me.

There are several obviously false statements in the FP message, besides.

• "We find ourselves fighting a war against the ravages of COVID-19 and its variants, an unrelenting pandemic." A war with a virus that is hardly harmful (compared to other actually dangerous diseases)? The coronavirus is just another flu, at worst, or a cold (more likely) -- yet why are we fighting an impossible to win war against these viruses that we have been "battling" for all of known history? The real war is with misinformation, and the reason why COVID-19 is even a thing is because Donald Trump was going to be re-elected.
• "We know that protection from the diseases they cause can only be achieved by immunizing a very high percentage of the population." This is obviously false. We have already seen 100% immunized populations explode with the new variant viruses -- if we can trust the tests at all (which we can't.) Indeed, many medical professionals are saying that the new variants were caused by the immunizations, and many are even saying that it doesn't even exist. Besides, for other vaccines, we have in recorded history seen vaccinated people carry the disease that they would've otherwise never had -- so if these were vaccines (they're not) they could actually be spreading the disease.
• "To limit exposure to these viruses, we urge the use of face masks in public meetings whenever social distancing is not possible." This is absurd advice, given medical research.
• "To provide personal protection from such severe infections, we urge individuals to be vaccinated." I know that the vaccines claim to eliminate severe infections, but given the data we have now, this is not what the vaccines are actually doing. Vaccinated people are showing up in the hospital in droves, while the unvaccinated are unaffected.
• "Available vaccines have proven to be both safe and effective." This is obviously false as well. How many have died from these vaccines now?
• "We can win this war if everyone will follow the wise and thoughtful recommendations of medical experts and government leaders." And what do "wise and thoughtful recommendations" say? There is no virus, the vaccines are very dangerous, and we shouldn't wear masks or socially distance. We should follow the Sweden model, which was the universal recommendation for responding to this type of disease in the first place.

So, pretty much the entire message contradicts what we can obviously see for ourselves.