Is there an ending to COVID?

[CTTT]

I was feeling hopeful at the start of the year with the vaccine rollout. But with the pandemic still going on, I'm starting to feel discouraged. It's amazing how in 1918 when the flu epidemic broke out, the medicine wasn't what it is now along with the technology. There was a lot of deaths but we got through it. Now fast forward 100+ years technology and medicines are better and it feels like the medical officials and general public are running around like chickens with their head cut off. Not listening to medical advice, not getting vaxxed. We are 20 months into this pandemic and it feels like there is no end in sight. I long for the days of crowds being at sporting events and concerts. Scenes being filled out in shows/movies. Theaters being full for movies Parks being full with people. Will we get there?

[Zelena]

I heard that the 1918 flu became nastier and then broke the contamination chains. It ended like that. I don’t know how long it took.

I think that, despite the anti-vaxxers, more and more people will get vaccinated, and little by little, the virus will have less leverage. Specialists said that 2022 will be the year of improvement.

[Captain Nostalgia]

Eventually, you will just have to patient.

Once the vaccine is administered wide spread in developing countries the chances of new variants popping up will become less and less
(If it did escape from a lab for geo political reasons....we could be f'd though if something new is in the works)

Otherwise, if your vaccinated, you'll be able to safely go to concerts and football games, but you could still catch COVID (most likely from someone who hasn't been vaccinated), but your symptoms won't be as severe, as you will have the antibodies to fight it.

[Spike-X]

Not if the knuckle-draggers resisting everything we do to try and end it have their way, no.

[worstblogever]

1. Get vaccinated. (If you got Pfizer, be ready to get the booster shot when it comes out, as it is being set up to further protect you from variants.)
2. Tell people you know to get vaccinated.
3. Mock those who dig in, argue against science and don't for being the selfish twits they are. This thing will hang around in the populace until they get their act together.
4. Repeat #1-3 as much as you have to until it's over.

In the U.S. we're still going to see a bump in the fall, likely because the vaccine has to be cleared for children under 12, and kids are headed back to school to be in cramped quarters and spread it around. Including the variants.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Watching the local news and saw a graphic that the delta variant is currently responsible for 99 percent of of all COVID deaths and 97 percent of all hospitalizations. Those are damn sobering numbers to say the least. In addition to a fall surge, there's bound to be concern about all the athletes, coaches and other personnel returning from the Olympics in Tokyo where vaccinations have been lacking and cases have already been breaking out among the participants, leading to fears of a possible super spreader event.

[Kieran_Frost]

Short answer: no.
Long answer: no, but it will get better. It will evolve, adapt, and life will sooner or later get back to a state of normality it once was, but this is a long way off. 2022 at the earliest.

3. Mock those who dig in, argue against science and don't for being the selfish twits they are. This thing will hang around in the populace until they get their act together.

This is a terrible suggestion! Sorry, absolutely not! I can't stand anti-vaxxers, but let's face reality: we want as many to change their minds, or NOT change their minds but still get the vaccine. Here's how you don't get people to change their minds: mock them, to p*ss them off, so they dig their heels in even more.

Seriously, this is a horrible idea! Rational discussion and facts will help change more minds than mockery and shame. Not all, but maybe enough to swing the balance. Please, PLEASE don't make people dig their heels in more. Be better than pettiness.
#truthbombOFLOVE

[Powerboy]

I was feeling hopeful at the start of the year with the vaccine rollout. But with the pandemic still going on, I'm starting to feel discouraged. It's amazing how in 1918 when the flu epidemic broke out, the medicine wasn't what it is now along with the technology. There was a lot of deaths but we got through it. Now fast forward 100+ years technology and medicines are better and it feels like the medical officials and general public are running around like chickens with their head cut off. Not listening to medical advice, not getting vaxxed. We are 20 months into this pandemic and it feels like there is no end in sight. I long for the days of crowds being at sporting events and concerts. Scenes being filled out in shows/movies. Theaters being full for movies Parks being full with people. Will we get there?

Of course, there are mitigating factors off-setting our improved medicine. In 1918, there wasn't a narcissist president telling everyone it was a hoax. While people still got frustrated with it in 1918, you didn't have the mentality that taking precautions during a pandemic was a violation of their rights. You didn't have the Internet/ mass media capacity to put out false information and politicize it nearly as much nor people without expertise with infectious diseases putting out political propaganda. Inferior knowledge can still lead to better results than superior knowledge drowned in stupidity and childishness.