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> it does contribute. It really didn't. It reads like something I'd see in a JPG compressed meme you'd see on /r/forwardsFromGrandma. Are you saying that we

> it does contribute. It really didn't. It reads like something I'd see in a JPG compressed meme you'd see on /r/forwardsFromGrandma. Are you saying that we shouldn't do anything if we see a new variant? > This disease will always be with us That sounds fatalistic to me, at least with the more colloquial use of the word. To be clear, I don't necessarily think you're wrong. It's a valid viewpoint, and I think it's not unreasonable to say "the sooner we find a way to return to semi-normalcy rahter than osciallting around every time a new variant with different properties shows up, the better."

dekhn 5y ago
It contributes in the sense that we comment here to manipulate the opinions of others, and at this point, the best and most important message to communicate is "this isn't going away no matter how much we science it, so we better start planning for the endemic nature". As for fatalism about a virus- I grew up during HIV/AIDS. It's still here (I went into biology and got a PhD and almost became a professor to work on anti-HIV drugs). Is it fatalistic for us to assume HIV will be with us even though we know how to completely abolish transmission, but people still do things that lead to transmission? best to be realistic about the future and plan for it than hope vaccines are going to magically solve problems for us.
- tombert 5y ago
  > As for fatalism about a virus- I grew up during HIV/AIDS. It's still here (I went into biology and got a PhD and almost became a professor to work on anti-HIV drugs). Is it fatalistic for us to assume HIV will be with us even though we know how to completely abolish transmission, but people still do things that lead to transmission? I don't know anything about the specifics of HIV so I cannot speak to it, but we have eradicated one virus completely (barring some frozen samples in labs): smallpox. Obviously it's an apples to orange comparison since smallpox isn't nearly as transmissible as COVID, but my point is that I'm sure that there were people in 1900 that said "we will never get rid of smallpox".
  - dekhn 5y ago
    yes, that's true, we have eliminated smallpox. I don't think that's in any way some sort of evidence that vaccines are generally successful at eliminating diseases. I think what we've seen is that there is likely no chance that even 100% vaccination would have permanently eliminated the disease, and total lockdowns aren't super-effective either, given their heavy societal costs.

dekhn 5y ago

It contributes in the sense that we comment here to manipulate the opinions of others, and at this point, the best and most important message to communicate is "this isn't going away no matter how much we science it, so we better start planning for the endemic nature". As for fatalism about a virus- I grew up during HIV/AIDS. It's still here (I went into biology and got a PhD and almost became a professor to work on anti-HIV drugs). Is it fatalistic for us to assume HIV will be with us even though we know how to completely abolish transmission, but people still do things that lead to transmission? best to be realistic about the future and plan for it than hope vaccines are going to magically solve problems for us.

tombert 5y ago
> As for fatalism about a virus- I grew up during HIV/AIDS. It's still here (I went into biology and got a PhD and almost became a professor to work on anti-HIV drugs). Is it fatalistic for us to assume HIV will be with us even though we know how to completely abolish transmission, but people still do things that lead to transmission? I don't know anything about the specifics of HIV so I cannot speak to it, but we have eradicated one virus completely (barring some frozen samples in labs): smallpox. Obviously it's an apples to orange comparison since smallpox isn't nearly as transmissible as COVID, but my point is that I'm sure that there were people in 1900 that said "we will never get rid of smallpox".
- dekhn 5y ago
  yes, that's true, we have eliminated smallpox. I don't think that's in any way some sort of evidence that vaccines are generally successful at eliminating diseases. I think what we've seen is that there is likely no chance that even 100% vaccination would have permanently eliminated the disease, and total lockdowns aren't super-effective either, given their heavy societal costs.