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> 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
by 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 agoyes, 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.