> Are there not therapeutics out there (there are) that limit severity and reduce duration?
Yes, but they are super expensive and limited right now.
> Trying to pretend that we're going to vaccinate our way out of this is nuts, it's just whak-a-mole. Why are treatments for once you get it - and we're all going to get it - not a thing?
Trying to pretend that we have the resources to treat this once someone gets a severe case (both in terms of medicine and hospitals beds) is nuts.
If COVID is going to become endemic (and it looks like it will), then Omicron is actually a good representation of what that looks like: not as horrible as previous strains, but a lot more contagious and less vulnerable to vaccines...just like the flu that goes around every year now. But until we can establish that this is just another flu, we should be careful and do what we can (get vaccinated, boosted, wear masks, cancel that mosh pit session). And once it is just determined to be like the flu, does this mean flu season will be twice as sucky as one can get hit by the flu and then COVID every year? Ugh, even that end would not be ideal, better get vaccinated yearly for both COVID and the flu now, and health insurance premiums are definitely going up (more than they are currently going up, anyways).
>Yes, but they are super expensive and limited right now.
Okay. Make them not super expensive and limited. It's not like the Fed is going to stop printing money any time soon.
>Trying to pretend that we have the resources to treat this once someone gets a severe case (both in terms of medicine and hospitals beds) is nuts.
Why? Both of those things (medicine and hospitals) are limited by money and physical infrastructure right now. We're 2 years into this pandemic, and I think it's time for a dose of reality that should covid become endemic we'll need more of those. It's like we just said "get vaxxed and the pandemic ends" over and over and enough people actually believed that and in the meantime we did nothing to solve production issues or build more hospital beds.
> Both of those things (medicine and hospitals) are limited by money and physical infrastructure right now.
We are spending stupid amounts of money on healthcare right now. I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of our inflation problems build up from the amount of resources we are redirecting into healthcare.
> It's like we just said "get vaxxed and the pandemic ends" over and over and enough people actually believed that and in the meantime we did nothing to solve production issues or build more hospital beds.
We underestimated how many people would not want to get vaxxed, and how many don't want to wear face masks, how many idiot governors don't want to take responsibility for their states. But ya, if this gets endemic, we will live on, but we will also pay the price for that.
Vaccines and masks don't prevent all the other health ailments that might require medical attention (and someone can still get a breakthrough case, even though it is less likely, and in that case less likely to need intervention).
We all pay the price when treatment is delayed or denied because the hospital is overflowing with COVID patients. Or because all our medical staff have quit because society feels they should bear unlimited amounts of trauma.
Yes, but they are super expensive and limited right now.
> Trying to pretend that we're going to vaccinate our way out of this is nuts, it's just whak-a-mole. Why are treatments for once you get it - and we're all going to get it - not a thing?
Trying to pretend that we have the resources to treat this once someone gets a severe case (both in terms of medicine and hospitals beds) is nuts.
If COVID is going to become endemic (and it looks like it will), then Omicron is actually a good representation of what that looks like: not as horrible as previous strains, but a lot more contagious and less vulnerable to vaccines...just like the flu that goes around every year now. But until we can establish that this is just another flu, we should be careful and do what we can (get vaccinated, boosted, wear masks, cancel that mosh pit session). And once it is just determined to be like the flu, does this mean flu season will be twice as sucky as one can get hit by the flu and then COVID every year? Ugh, even that end would not be ideal, better get vaccinated yearly for both COVID and the flu now, and health insurance premiums are definitely going up (more than they are currently going up, anyways).