4 ms·
It's been "over" several times already (remember "it will be gone by easter"?). This time won't be the last, the data just doesn't justify that assumption yet.
by jupp0r 5y ago
It's been "over" several times already (remember "it will be gone by easter"?). This time won't be the last, the data just doesn't justify that assumption yet.
What you are saying is: "Society thinks it is now ok to have ~1000 deaths from this disease per day" as a steady state. The problem with that is that the health infrastructure to deal with this amount of disease on top of other seasonal diseases like influenza just isn't there in most places.
People being done with it will change again when tumor removal surgery and other procedures need to be postponed and general quality of life is suffering.
There is also the aspect that lots of people will still take precautions like not eating out in crowded indoor spaces when seasonal infection rates are high. This will change business environments in the long run, whether we like it or not.
- handoflixue 5y ago> It's been "over" several times already Yes, but there are concrete reasons it didn't end: new variants showed up, and in the case of omicron in particular it was able to overwhelm resistance established by previous strains. That can absolutely happen again, but increasing vaccination rates across the globe mean the odds of a new variant are lower.
- jupp0r 5y agoI don't think odds of a new variant are lower. Vaccines turned out to not be effective against infection after a few months (they are very effective against severe disease). People who are vaccinated might clear the infection faster but as long as there is viral replication there will be mutations. At the same time, evolutionary pressure to evade vaccine protection is increasing as more people are vaccinated.