I wouldn't say needlessly. There are people in towns near my city that would normally be transported to the cities ICUs, but they can't because there is no room. People say the tests or the vaccine don't work but no one claims more than 3 percent of their hospitalized covid cases have been previously vaccinated. So, whatever the test tests for, the vaccine mostly prevents, and that thing is taking up way too many of my counties hospital beds. We can call it the flu, or the cold, or the vapors, but I wish everyone would go get their vapors vaccine so people who get in car wrecks could get fixed up in a timely manner.

It makes sense to impose restrictions where vaccination rates are low and ICUs are being filled up (or will be filled up due to continued growth in cases over the coming weeks in the absence of restrictions).

That's not the case in the SF Bay Area where vaccination rates are very high, keeping hospitalizations and ICU use low, yet mask mandates were reimposed here. We have plenty of ICU capacity.

Come on. It's because when we were trying to flatten the curve, there were far too many people who denied it was anything more serious than the flu and didn't take any precautions.

Same with slowing the spread. People did not listen.

Because they were "free critical thinkers who can reach their own conclusions thank you very much". And they were wrong. And now they've put us here.

> there were far too many people who denied it was anything more serious than the flu and didn't take any precautions.

Well apparently quite a number of people must have taken precautions, because that's the explanation for why the flu has basically disappeared off the face of the earth.

The flu is far less contagious than COVID.

Even small measures affect the numbers.

Who knew after decades of administering flu vaccines that all it took to eradicate the flu was half-assedly wearing cotton face masks?

And more hand washing, and more distancing, etc.

Because, like I said, the flu is far less contagious.

Handwringing over obvious outcomes doesn't help, it turns out.