03-01-2022, 03:18 AM
(02-28-2022, 11:16 PM)Chas Wrote: Pandemic is over!
(If you want it)
That works for the original, war, because the entire thing is a man made construct that can be changed by its makers. I doubt it works for a virus that has the potential, as Covid-19 does, to cross species boundaries and as such come and go and adapt over time. In this case wanting, and doing the heavy lifting that we've now seen is too hard for many, are two different things entirely. So, until Covid gets so big and bad that those who have so far been unable to put aside their own self interests realize their personal safety is at stake, and they embrace the science that thus far they have shunned, I'd say it's nigh impossible.
Right now the numbers are promising. They've plummeted from their recent incredible highs, but Covid hasn't gone away and we have to assume there are variants still to come. As such, if we as a whole had embraced a posture of collective cooperation, I would say yeah, we're gonna kick this buggah's ass. But as it is, I think Edge put it most succinctly when he observed that he'd be happy with a few weeks break before the next surge.
The problem, as I see it, lies in the exhaustion American's have with the whole thing and their willingness to suspend logic whenever it suits; which, collectively, doesn't bode well if in fact Covid finds a way around the immunity that we've gained and is now allowing us to relax our vigil. So, as I look for the best in the road ahead I also think it's worth recognizing the potential if Covid does get around our immune barrier and we are left with no more defense than masks and social distancing. If that was the case, now, it would be a slaughter.