So, a virus can get less dangerous over time if mutations fail to keep up with growth in immunity, whether that be from natural immunity or with the help of vaccination.
This is one of the ways pandemics end, and that end result would look like Covid becoming endemic, virtually the whole population being immune to it, and it essentially just becoming like the many other coronaviruses that just spread around seasonally and cause the common cold, or influenza viruses that cause the flu. Death is relatively uncommon to the point where the disease is not a major cause for concern.
I hope that happens, but it seems like a flu that's as contagious as covid19 would cause major disruptions to society every time antibodies wear off or a new variant comes around, even if it's not particularly deadly to most people. The length of time you are infectious before showing symptoms and how contagious it is, and how many animals it can infect... it just seems like a really stupid gamble to expect it to become like the common cold.
I definitely agree and the real solution would have been to just put the entire world on hold for a few months to snuff it out before it became a mass pandemic, but alas, ill-conceived profit-motivated decision making got us to where we are now, and pushing all responsibility and consequences onto the working class in such a way that covid becoming endemic can be profitable for the capitalist class is the main plan in most of the world.
This narrative only holds for developed countries, and not for all diseases. RSV kills tens of thousands a year, and tuberculosis wipes out a million humans a year.
So, a virus can get less dangerous over time if mutations fail to keep up with growth in immunity, whether that be from natural immunity or with the help of vaccination.
This is one of the ways pandemics end, and that end result would look like Covid becoming endemic, virtually the whole population being immune to it, and it essentially just becoming like the many other coronaviruses that just spread around seasonally and cause the common cold, or influenza viruses that cause the flu. Death is relatively uncommon to the point where the disease is not a major cause for concern.
I hope that happens, but it seems like a flu that's as contagious as covid19 would cause major disruptions to society every time antibodies wear off or a new variant comes around, even if it's not particularly deadly to most people. The length of time you are infectious before showing symptoms and how contagious it is, and how many animals it can infect... it just seems like a really stupid gamble to expect it to become like the common cold.
I definitely agree and the real solution would have been to just put the entire world on hold for a few months to snuff it out before it became a mass pandemic, but alas, ill-conceived profit-motivated decision making got us to where we are now, and pushing all responsibility and consequences onto the working class in such a way that covid becoming endemic can be profitable for the capitalist class is the main plan in most of the world.
This narrative only holds for developed countries, and not for all diseases. RSV kills tens of thousands a year, and tuberculosis wipes out a million humans a year.