this post was submitted on 15 Jan 2024
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[–] [email protected] 79 points 10 months ago (21 children)

I think we need to walk back a little and manage the expectations as to what "the pandemic is over" means and always meant. It doesn't mean "Covid will go away". It won't. It will never go away. The pandemic is over because it entered into the endemic stage. All the things we did during the pandemic phase of Covid was to save as many people as possible until

A) a vaccine was found (check) and
B) an endemic variant emerged. (Check) an endemic variant is a mutation that's harmless enough so people don't become too sick and spread the bastard around. That's what Omicron is.

Yes, people die of Covid. People die of many pathogens, bow we have one more. But we cannot make it go away. We could mask up, keep distance forever, but that would cost us dearly, if not economically, at least mentally. There will always be Covid deaths from now on and nothing can change that as far as we know. Yet, that was clear from almost day 1 of the pandemic.

Besides: look at who dies of Covid. It's those with weakened immune systems mostly. I want everyone to live as long and as happily as possible, but we need to acknowledge that some are sicker than others and all of us will die. Those who die of Covid are compromised on a way that would have them die from the flu or any number of other pathogens around (for the most part).

Like it or not, that's what the world is like and always has been like. Until we find a way to eradicate viruses, people will die from Covid. End of story.

[–] [email protected] 29 points 10 months ago (2 children)

That's funny, wearing a mask never cost me anything mentally, but I'm not surrounded by Dunning Krueger rednecks who make fun of masks so I got that going for me.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I really don't understand why there's so much hostility towards masks. I've always worn masks when I was sick and it was never a big deal for me. Wearing a mask all the time during 2020-2023 wasn't a bother either.

[–] QTpi 4 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

I don't get it either. I was working in a hospital lab in TX for H1N1 (swine flu) in 2009. The hospital lined up all staff members to get the brand new H1N1 vaccine and you either got it or signed a declination. Declining meant you got a sticker on your badge requiring you to wear a mask for the entire flu season while at work. No fits, no protests, and everyone cooperated. My mind is blown by how toxic the rhetoric became.

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Endemic illnesses get spread around and kill people all the time. Endemic actually just means "statistically naturally occurring within a given population". It shouldn't have been allowed to get to endemic levels, but half of America thought the pandemic wasn't real and didn't wear masks or isolate.

[–] [email protected] 31 points 10 months ago (1 children)

First of all, there is more than the US. So let's not get into US centrism. I'm from Germany and we had issues with those ppl as well. The US alone would not have been able to stop this at all. Secondly, the endemic stage was guaranteed to happen in the very moment Covid left Wuhan province. That was the last time it was stoppable. Given it's incubation time, there was no way we could have caught all infected in time as soon as it left the very distinct borders it first occurred in.

[–] Nythos 5 points 10 months ago

Fucking Boris Johnson thought the UK could get through the pandemic through herd immunity and cost the lives of thousands.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

They might die of the flu anyway is a horrific justification. If someone isn't getting vaccinated and masking up they're really just saying they don't care if other people die as long as they don't have to be inconvenienced.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

Yet another comment that sounds rational at face value, but is actually insane when considering the high rates of long covid and how much about it is unknown.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 10 months ago

The most dangerous thing when COVID emerged was it's novelty. Since no one's immune system had seen anything like it before, it had free reign to do widespread damage to it's victims often without any immune response and spread like wildfire.

Most of the planet is has either caught COVID, been immunized, or both at this point. Even though the variant changes it's not a completely novel disease. As such the damage it can do is limited.

At this point enacting controls other than immunization will be counterproductive. Remember that any control you place on a pathogen is a selection pressure for it to evolve to overcome it. So masks, distancing etc. that we half-assed at the heat of the pandemic will make the pathogen evolve to overcome them.

The best and most effective control is immunization. We need to hold the other controls in reserve for if/when that fails.

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[–] [email protected] 55 points 10 months ago (3 children)

The WHO never announced that the pandemic is over. People just got bored of it so they decided it was.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 10 months ago

Not trying to be argumentative or contrarian but WHO not declaring that a pandemic is over is not really what signals the end of a pandemic (any pandemic, not just COVID). Most literature suggests that pandemics tend to end organically, once the culture(s) impacted return more or less to normal. The pandemic has been over by conventional definitions for a couple years now. That doesn't mean that COVID is less of a threat or shouldn't be taken seriously by any means. It just means that society is no longer adjusting daily life because of the threat.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 10 months ago

The pandemic is over because it's now endemic.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Yes, and I'm sorry, but I really was very bored of it.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 10 months ago

As long as you’re willing to get vaccinated on occasion then being bored isn’t anything to feel sorry about.

[–] [email protected] 41 points 10 months ago (1 children)

It’s never going to be over. It’s endemic now. Instead of Flu Season we will always have COVID and Flu Season.

[–] [email protected] 30 points 10 months ago (2 children)

I was about to make this same comment, but I looked up some statistics and it seems that COVID still has a 10x hospitalization rate and 3-4x death rate among seniors as compared to seasonal flu. While it's fair to say that COVID is probably seasonal now, like the flu, I think it's important to acknowledge that it's much more dangerous. I was never one to get flu shots in the past, but COVID shots seem like a good idea. I'll probably stay home from work longer if I do catch COVID, and I'll probably wear a mask if I have to go out in public before I'm fully recovered. I think we just need to recalibrate our common sense for this new reality.

https://www.ahcancal.org/News-and-Communications/Blog/Pages/Flu-or-COVID-19---Which-is-Worse.aspx

[–] [email protected] 12 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Between new diseases and all the smoke from entire states and provinces burning each spring and summer and the unbearable heat and cold, we're all gonna be walking around looking like sand people in a few years.

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 10 months ago

Just want to say this is a quality comment. Thanks. Good points made.

[–] [email protected] 36 points 10 months ago (1 children)

There are so many people I come across now think of this as a cold, perhaps a bad one in the worse case. They have had it at least once to 3 times so there's nothing more that can be done in their minds.

My gf has had it 2 years in a row and I've dodged it there too.

I'm being told I'm a unicorn now as I'm the only one in my circles that hasn't had it yet.

Then I see the numbers above like this and recall almost 3000 died in 9/11 and how many were so moved by those senseless deaths which lead to a million more senseless civilian deaths while domestically these Rona numbers happening weekly, and there's nothing that can be done in a way worse than the lack of action for gun violence against children.

At least there are thoughts and prayers to be applied for gun violence. We won't even think of this minimum for those that have died from Rona..

[–] [email protected] 14 points 10 months ago (3 children)

Food for thought: you may very well have had Covid, multiple times. Plenty of people have no, or extremely minor, symptoms. My son has had Covid twice and both times his ONLY symptom was a bit of a stomach upset. We only found out he had Covid by sheer coincidence.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 months ago (2 children)

If only there were some sort of rapid covid test you could take to check instead of just headcanoning whether or not you have covid.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 10 months ago (3 children)

If you don't have any symptoms, why would you use a RAT? I'm not sure what they cost where you are, but they aren't all that cheap in Australia.

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[–] [email protected] 31 points 10 months ago (1 children)

"The highest since January 2023"

January 2023:

Sauce

[–] [email protected] 6 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Bear in mind those are death counts. The variants have become less deadly but that doesn't mean they're harmless

[–] [email protected] 6 points 10 months ago (8 children)

I mean, no disease will never not be lethal, but that is considerable better than it was.

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[–] [email protected] 30 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (5 children)

I am in no way denying this claim, I just dont find stating that this time of year is the highest since this time of year last year *to be a compelling claim. While perfectly true, it doesnt convey anything mwaningful to me, as it seems that common diseases such as cold and flu are always on seasonal variations, so you would expect the peak seasons to be regular each year. I think communication on an issue like this needs to be both speciic and careful to consider that cultural expectations of diseases could lessen the impact if what is being said here.

edit:spelling and grammar

[–] [email protected] 6 points 10 months ago

This seems to be the same Twitter account that said the Palestine marches in DC and London had a million people combined when every article seemed to describe the attendance as "thousands".

I'm sceptical of all their claims now.

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[–] [email protected] 25 points 10 months ago

Yeah but people are over it. No more shutdowns. Covid isn't going away ever.

[–] [email protected] 20 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Unfortunately there are way too many people who not only refuse to accept that but who will also actively resist any attempts to control this or any future pandemic

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[–] [email protected] 19 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I wonder, how many of these people were homeless and could easily been prevented just with some human decency, housing them and given them basic medical care.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 months ago

I only got it when I was put in jail for shit I didn't do. They made me catch COVID when I otherwise wouldn't have because I already self isolate to the extreme.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (4 children)

I am saddened for those that die despite doing everything that they can to prevent it. The vaccine doesn't always work. Some people can't get it for legitimate health reasons (as opposed to the illegitimate excuses some people use). Etc.

Call me cold hearted, but with the exception of the minority of people meeting the above criteria, I can't help but imagine that most of the people dying of COVID at this point are willfully ignorant Trumpets taking one for their team. Good riddance to them. That's one less ballot we need to worry about in November.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 10 months ago (2 children)

The vaccine does work. Vaccines aren't a silver bullet "you'll never catch this disease now" solution. They simply mitigate the harmful effects of the virus and reduce your chances of contracting it.

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 months ago

Yup, the only good thing Trump has ever done was killing off a ton of his cult members.

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[–] [email protected] 14 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Get vaccinated, test, mask and social distance.

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 10 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 17 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

Don't get complacent. COVID has been hitting Europe pretty hard too

Edit: I put bad links, sorry!

[–] [email protected] 7 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

I am regularly boosted and test when I am sick as does my family. It ain’t over but I’m living my life. We have the means for most people to walk around without any concern, but some people refuse to take 30 minutes out of their day to get a (generally free) sho every 12mo or so because it’s inconvenient or their politics.

The pandemic is over for me and my family. All the “vaccine skeptics“ out there can get on board or deal with it at this point. It’s been almost 4 years folks, get with the program. Any of you reading this who are able but have not gotten boosted or (god forbid) aren’t vaccinated yet, get off your ass and do it. It’s not that difficult.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 10 months ago

Cold/Flu season is in full effect so I’m betting getting Covid with the Flu is rough.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Now check to see if the folks in the Hospital and dying were vaccinated.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 months ago (1 children)

The vast majority of people hospitalized and intubated and deceased from COVID were not vaccinated.

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