2020 and 2021 are the root of my claim that Covid is "worse". Millions died of covid during this time, but deaths from influenza dropped to minuscule levels. Some strains of influenza may have gone extinct.
Influenza that makes you sick for a week or two isn't a trivial thing either! If you're lucky, you'll just feel awful for a week. If you're unlucky, you're part of the chain of transmission that kills someone's grandparents. Get your flu shots.
> However, the difference in mortality rates between COVID-19 and influenza appears to have decreased since early in the pandemic; death rates among people hospitalized for COVID-19 were 17% to 21% in 2020 vs 6% in this study, while death rates for those hospitalized for influenza were 3.8% in 2020 vs 3.7% in this study.
The gap between mortality rates for covid and the flu has decreased, but covid is still clearly worse.
"Just a flu" was always bullshit on two fronts: influenza is a terrible disease that has killed millions, and everyone serious knew COVID was worse.
But of course: "If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie."