I think this is absolutely the trajectory—endemic but less deadly.
I mean, there are so many breakthrough cases in the US alone that I think it’s simply unrealistic to not expect vaccine-resistant strains to evolve and spread. Even if the percentages are small, the raw numbers are big enough that I expect, ultimately, “escape”— whatever that means. Vaccination is obviously good, but I don’t think it could ever have been sufficient in the US; there are simply too many pressures and too little will to actually stop the spread, that vaccines as the main defense realistically never had a chance.
I don’t think it’s the end of the world or anything, nor do I trust any western states to act responsibly in any way. So, I think it’s ultimately for the best to earnestly attempt to eradicate. But it’s here to stay and any realistic strategy needs to take that into account, IMO. It’s just a shame that this can—and has been—so easily twisted into “acceptance”, ultimately functioning as something that will be used to absolve states of responsibility, in the popular mind.
I’m still masking up like fucking crazy when I’m in class with a bunch of college students for several hours a day, I don’t want one of the bad cases of covid, with the not-terribly-unlikely possibility of long term consequences. But it’s clear to me that significant risk will be present for quite some time, and that we won’t get any “clear” thresholds, only lots of slight, continuous changes.
I think this is absolutely the trajectory—endemic but less deadly.
I mean, there are so many breakthrough cases in the US alone that I think it’s simply unrealistic to not expect vaccine-resistant strains to evolve and spread. Even if the percentages are small, the raw numbers are big enough that I expect, ultimately, “escape”— whatever that means. Vaccination is obviously good, but I don’t think it could ever have been sufficient in the US; there are simply too many pressures and too little will to actually stop the spread, that vaccines as the main defense realistically never had a chance.
I don’t think it’s the end of the world or anything, nor do I trust any western states to act responsibly in any way. So, I think it’s ultimately for the best to earnestly attempt to eradicate. But it’s here to stay and any realistic strategy needs to take that into account, IMO. It’s just a shame that this can—and has been—so easily twisted into “acceptance”, ultimately functioning as something that will be used to absolve states of responsibility, in the popular mind.
I’m still masking up like fucking crazy when I’m in class with a bunch of college students for several hours a day, I don’t want one of the bad cases of covid, with the not-terribly-unlikely possibility of long term consequences. But it’s clear to me that significant risk will be present for quite some time, and that we won’t get any “clear” thresholds, only lots of slight, continuous changes.