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Re:Omicron variant more resistant to vaccine but causes less... by kiba on Tuesday December 14, 2021 @10:46AM (#29552842)
That said, we've accepted an annual winter uptick in flu infections and we just tell people most vulnerable to get their yearly flu jab; less vulnerable folks can stay at home for a bit and manage the symptoms. If that's what we have to do for covid every winter then so be it.

Accepted? I would call that normalizing as well. According to an estimate, about 290,000 to 650,000 globally died of the flu each year.[1]

Normalization means it's a problem out of mind out of sight. We stop demanding these problems to be solved.

1. https://www.who.int/news/item/13-12-2017-up-to-650-000-peopl...

Re:Omicron variant more resistant to vaccine but causes less... by rkk3 on Tuesday December 14, 2021 @12:01PM (#29554022)
At a certain point we accept the tradeoffs and get on with it. A few hundred thousand people die of the flu every year. So what? It's tragic, but that is life.
Re:Omicron variant more resistant to vaccine but causes less... by kiba on Tuesday December 14, 2021 @12:35PM (#29554471)
Normalization is not about accepting tradeoff. It's accepting defeat.

At some point, drastic measures start being worse than the disease. It doesn't mean we should ignore the few hundred thousand death.

Re:Omicron variant more resistant to vaccine but causes less... by rkk3 on Tuesday December 14, 2021 @02:20PM (#29556085)
56 Million people die a year. There are vaccine's and treatments available for the Flu. The deaths aren't 0 but don't think it's something to moralize about and call a defeat.
Re:Omicron variant more resistant to vaccine but causes less... by systemvoltage on Tuesday December 14, 2021 @11:07AM (#29553116)
If it means more lockdowns and more restrictions, more government powers; absolutely normalize COVID. We have given up enough.
Re:Omicron variant more resistant to vaccine but causes less... by kiba on Tuesday December 14, 2021 @11:18AM (#29553267)
Just because our economy cannot withstand further lockdowns and restrictions doesn't mean that the normalization of COVID is any more excusable. It just means we failed.
Re:Omicron variant more resistant to vaccine but causes less... by selectodude on Tuesday December 14, 2021 @11:47AM (#29553753)
It has nothing to do with the economy. Humans are social creatures. You can pay me $100,000/mo to sit in my house indefinitely and I can almost guarantee you it'll end in depression and suicide.
Re:Omicron variant more resistant to vaccine but causes less... by systemvoltage on Tuesday December 14, 2021 @12:15PM (#29554205)
To take this to extreme: We’ve failed to solve deaths. We should have solutions to aging and indefinite life.

Since we have 100% death ratio, show us your health history along with your verifiable ID. We are the ministry of Truth and Safety.

In all seriousness: We need to push back on robbing of civil liberties. No one cared to check for flu vaccine. It should be the same for COVID now that it’s getting weaker and it won’t end forever.