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Is this as good as it gets? NYTimes: Herd Immunity May Be Out of Reach
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https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/03/healt...ccine.html

Due to vaccine hesitancy, the global nature of variants, and the increased transmissibility of some variants like the B.117, immunologists and officials (including Fauci) are now conceding we may never achieve herd immunity.

This may become the new normal. The expectation is that Covid will just float around forever, creating crises every few years as new variants emerge.

I’m trying to wrap my head around this. What does it mean for the future?

If Covid floats around forever, and every now and then a nasty variant emerges, what will life be like?

I assume we will just go back / be forced back into life as before, but even though I am pretty young, and I expect my children will eventually be vaccinated, I could see us making some permanent changes.

I think we will travel less. I think we may wear masks when we fly for the rest of our lives. Living in such nice weather, we may just make a habit of doing more stuff outdoors, like I could imagine over time restaurants will build more and more outdoor seating. We will probably always make refundable travel plans just in case a variant emerges. 

Some favorite indoor activities, I expect to resume. I’ll probably resume watching movies, but will I wear a mask in theatres for life? Maybe.

Some activities I may modify. I might stop hosting holiday parties, and move more toward summer backyard bbqs as my “big get-together”

Some activities, which were borderline, may just fade away. I am a huge fan of football. I imagine I will return. In 2019 I tried out attending more indoor sports. It wasn’t huge for me, so I may not return. I enjoy buffets, and find them a quick, convenient way to eat breakfast while traveling, but I can live without them. Hopefully hotels can find an efficient substitute. I’d be fine with grab and go bags and motion activated coffee dispensers.

Maybe enough people can be convinced to get vaccinated, but I fear we have just gone too far down the gaslighting, “there is no truth/my podcaster’s conspiracy theory is just as valid as an expert’s view” rabbit hole.

A more realistic “good case scenario” is that we develop such cheap, ubiquitous tests and develop such good therapeutics that people can just regularly test themselves and seek out treatment early. I heard they are testing treatments as convenient as a pill.

I’m feeling pretty down as this sinks in.

Thoughts?
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Is this as good as it gets? NYTimes: Herd Immunity May Be Out of Reach - by Snorlax94 - 05-03-2021, 04:11 AM

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