I think there’s also the simple matter that any virus that is widespread will – either by infection, or because people have had vaccinations – will have enough immune system response for most people such that even if they do catch it they won’t get seriously ill with it. The only reason we’re having lockdowns is because of the huge numbers of people with a naive immune response (because they’ve not been vaccinated) and the probability of serious or deadly cases resulting. Once people aren’t going to hospital in high numbers you manage it like any other infectious disease. We don’t shut society down because of flu, car crashes, plane crashes or any other thing that causes some people to get injured, sick or killed. We understand it’s unreasonable that you can ever achieve zero deaths because of [insert common risk here]. We’ve only taken these measures because health services would have been overwhelmed by covid19. Once it’s the case that covid19 won’t overwhelm health services it becomes a management problem.
Also as time goes on, pharma companies now knowing that the vaccine will be needed for at least the next few decades will have the production built out. It’s not like the current production issues will go on for ever – we’ve only just started right now to actually produce vaccine.
You’ll never eradicate it, we have to accept we will have to live with it and manage it. No, it’s not the end of hospitality or restaurants or pubs. People have put up with lockdown because it’s a temporary measure, but even now people have had enough and are becoming less compliant, and politicians are starting to push back more against measures, and this will only become more so as more people are vaccinated and the risk of health service collapse is demonstrably much smaller.
Alioth is correct on all accounts.
Also, consider that we (as humanity) have now unlocked the tool of “mRNA vaccines”. These can be adapted to a new virus within days. This will serve us well against future pandemics. I can’t say it will work against all RNA viruses, but it’s quite likely to work against many of them. I hope the additional vaccine production facilities we now build/built are maintained well past Covid-19. They give us the time to react to future pandemics more quickly.
As we learned in this one, speed is of the essence!
Peter wrote:
Asia is different in many ways… routine wearing of masks in many places undoubtedly helps a lot.
The zero-covid strategy in several Asia-Pacific countries does paint these countries into a corner.
It basically means isolation will never end, which is obviously a dead end strategy.
Personally I think the planet will just slowly start to let go after a period of, say, 3 years. (2023-24)
At that time, most people have had a chance to gain immunity, either via vaccine or the hard way.
All pandemics ends eventually.
MedEwok wrote:
Alioth is correct on all accounts.
Agreed.
Patience is truly the most important pandemic virtue. This shall all pass.
MedEwok wrote:
Alioth is correct on all accounts.
Indeed. That is the best summary of the situation I have seen.
This seems like a preposterous reason to remove somebody from a flight. Over here, under-6s are generally exempt from all mask wearing rules.
MedEwok wrote:
This seems like a preposterous reason to remove somebody from a flight. Over here, under-6s are generally exempt from all mask wearing rules.
There is usually more to these tear-jerker stories than the gutter press – of which the New York Post is a fairly prominent example – let on.
Graham wrote:
If that’s the future, then I’ll be coming to Switzerland.To Dignitas.
So would I. But, @Graham, you don’t have to. You can come to California and enjoy life. The past two weekends I have
- flown to San Louis Obispo, had a wonderful fish lunch with friends in a seaside restaurant at Morro Bay, followed by beers in a bar at the airport back in L.A.
- gone to a craft brewery and had beers with a friend in their beer garden, flown to Catalina Island for lunch and generally had a good time
All of the above in an area that has an incidence of about 5/100.000 (I know, I know, the metrics….). Now please, @Malibu_Flyer, contrast that with the ‘success’ of Germany and Europe as a whole. I know where I’d rather be.
PS: I’m getting my second Moderna shot in a few days.
@172driver sign me up!
Seriously, if I were more career-focused and did not have a pleasant home life here that I’m reluctant to give up, then I would be scouring my company’s internal vacancies for something suitable in the US.
PS: our pubs re-open today! Outside only to start with, inside from 17 May.
PPS: I can’t move to the US because you can’t get real beer ;-)
Graham wrote:
PPS: I can’t move to the US because you can’t get real beer ;-)
I’ll shout you some excellent craft beer when you come !! There’s even a place doing UK-style real ales here, although they don’t go very well with the warm and sunny climate. LOL
