> No. Covid reeinfects. There's only a short-lived immunity.

So let's Omicron, or any other mild variant spread, we'll get reinfected regularly, thus developing resistance to more malignant strains. That's how we beat flu, which, believe or not, was deadly in the past. Now we get millions of flu infections each year, but no one cares, because they are mild.

> we'll get reinfected regularly, thus developing resistance to more malignant strains.

Clearly not how it works and not what's happening.

We are not developing resistance to more malignant strains so far despite the virus and its variants spreading.

Plus, mild symptoms when contagious are not indicators for long term covid damages on organs. Want to take the risk ?

> That's how we beat flu, which, believe or not, was deadly in the past.

We didn't beat flu. We still need vaccines every year. Believe it or not, it's still deadly.

We have vaccines for Covid and it's still not enough to live like Covid is another flu.

> Now we get millions of flu infections each year, but no one cares, because they are mild.

Millions of covid infections. It's still not mild and way too soon to know if omicron is milder short term and milder long term. You are talking a distant hypothetical future. People were already saying that in january 2020. Didn't pan out. What's different now ? We got worse variants.

It's time public voices stop comparing covid to flu. Covid is way more contagious than the flu.

Flu patients in ICU don't need 7 or 8 nurses. It's a different beast and it hasn't yet taken every evolutionary paths it can take.

Letting it rip through the population hoping it magically build a resistance ? Eugenics and wishful thinking.

edit:

> we'll get reinfected regularly, thus developing resistance to more malignant strains

Omicron is telling us it doesn't care much about our previous wuhan/alpha/delta infections when we look at current numbers.

Reinfections can send you to the ICU and then you toss a coin if you make it for one more year. How many times do you want to take that risk ? Once a year ? Are you in your thirties ? Then when your are ~45 and the risk of getting in the ICU gets higher than now, will you still take the risk to get Covid this year thinking you are building a resistance ?

We don't build resistance to next year's flu when we age. If/Since covid will be seasonal/periodical and evolve it's likely we will regularly need boosters/new vaccines.

And considering its high transmission capabilities we will still need masks and other preventive measures.

>> We didn't beat flu. We still need vaccines every year.

Seriously? I thought flu vaccines were just a hipster thing: something you do to look cool, but they don't really matter much. In my country only 4% of people take them, and we don't have many flu-related deaths.

Diabetics and older people are strongly advised to take it. That surely helped cementing the "it's a flu" when most of the deaths are old people. Also, we don't have many flu-related deaths because it either turns into emphyzema or other pulmonary complications which are the cause of death. Or the vaccine did its job.

> In decades maybe we get a mild covid.

That's incredibly quick in evolutionary terms. If COVID becomes milder, it may take many human lifetimes for that to occur. In the mean time, it can mutate into something stronger.

Agreed. I still have to come to terms to that myself so I use `decades` not to scare people too much but... also my understanding of the situation and evolution is not solid enough to get into an argument about decades vs lifetime so I stick to decades because it can also mean centuries :/.

> Long term damage is not getting enough attention.

Too bad all those back-to-office-adamant employers completely ignore this. Like, OK, I get infected cause I had to commute to work and then you fire me/lay me off and I'm left holding the bag, financially and physically cause you really wanted to make your leasing payments "worth it".

Yet somehow each and every day grocery store workers manage to go into their office. What makes you so special?

Most likely, considering this is HN, s/he's moving bits around all day. Something that every day grocery store workers can't do remotely with the things they have to move around.

Which reminds me that in the first lockdown, in my country, grocery stores workers were considered "essential" and were allowed to go to their workplace and work there.

If I was in charge I’d classify tech workers as non essential and not let them work. Make them go through unemployment for a while. I bet a whole lot of these privileged people would suddenly become a lot less “scared” of Covid…

The amount of privilege that reeks from the tech sector is astronomical. I’ve never been more embarrassed working in t is industry than these days.

> If I was in charge I’d classify tech workers as non essential and not let them work. Make them go through unemployment for a while. I bet a whole lot of these privileged people would suddenly become a lot less “scared” of Covid…

Tech workers were classified as non essentials. That's why we got the whole remote thing. Other professions also got labelled non-essential and governments asked employers to put remote/wfh in place as much as possible and at some time made it mandatory. Being classified as a non-essential never meant you were de facto out of a job or prevented from working (Western Europe here).

> Make them go through unemployment for a while. I bet a whole lot of these privileged people would suddenly become a lot less “scared” of Covid…

Wait, what ? Why do you want to punish people who managed to keep their job because you don't like the fact they are scared of covid ?

I won't say everything I am thinking but wishing people to lose their job because you think they are privileged and they are scared of covid is pretty fucked up. I am making €1750 net a month, in IT, I have a master degree. I don't feel privileged.

> The amount of privilege that reeks from the tech sector is astronomical. I’ve never been more embarrassed working in t is industry than these days.

Then follow your heart and go work in the service industry in a supermarket.

> Why do you want to punish people who managed to keep their job because you don't like the fact they are scared of covid ?

These very same tech workers have zero problems punishing the rest of society and selfishly forcing them to cower to their fears. So yeah, what’s good for the goose is good for the gander. Very little tech work is “essential”. So they should be on unemployment… let them wake up and realize the world doesn’t revolve around a fucking respiratory virus.

It requires a lot of privilege to be scared of Covid.

> These very same tech workers have zero problems punishing the rest of society and selfishly forcing them to cower to their fears.

Could you please provide some examples of how tech workers have been able to punish the rest of society ? As far as I can tell it's the public authorities who decide laws and public health policies. Tech workers can't even unionize and now they can lobby for WFH or lockdowns and are punishing the rest of society ?

> So they should be on unemployment… let them wake up and realize the world doesn’t revolve around a fucking respiratory virus.

I wrote it in my previous comment then deleted it but I'll finally put it here because fuck it: I did lose my job one month into the first lockdown because my n+2 non tech boss decided to use the federal budget allocated to my job to create a new job for her bestie. How am I privileged ? Why didn't being put on unemployment during lockdown erase my fear of covid ? While at the same time a family member of mine who is an artist lost her gigs but thanks to our welfare state she didn't lose an euro of income in the last two years and now she's setting up fires and stirring things up in antivax/mask riots in Brussels. Their world revolve around the virus, their only meaning in life is now to be against every health measures (and yes they are ordering covid online in the Netherlands rather than get a jab. Which FAANG employees is forcing her to do that, uh ?).

You may not like how the covid thing is handled but thinking it's tech worker's fault is wack and wanting to punish them for that is wackier. If anything, talk to your representative or your councilmen or something. They are the one in charge.

> Why do you want to punish people who managed to keep their job because you don't like the fact they are scared of covid ?

Not GP, but one reason is that they're advocating for restrictions that have severe detrimental effects (loss of employment) on others, but not on themselves.

I haven't seen much on HN about such restrictions so I suppose something in the mainstream media does point to that or I have a bias. Do you have some examples ?

Also, apparently, wearing a mask and getting vaccinated is already a giant no-no for some here so I'd like to know what restrictions are being advocated by who ? Surely it's not a `they` as in everyone though, right ?

I’m fully vaccinated, thanks. It is quite possible to be pro vaccine and extremely anti mask.

It's possible to be many things but I wish you would have provided examples of tech workers punishing people.

Waiting decades with government policies in place and altered behavior is not a realistic option. Most people would rather risk infection over the long term.