The end of the pandemic is coming - just don't set a date for the party

[dalton99a]

https://theconversation.com/the-end-of-the-pandemic-is-coming-just-dont-set-a-date-for-the-party-157205

The end of the pandemic is coming – just don’t set a date for the party
March 31, 2021 8.31am EDT
Agnes Arnold-Forster

“After the pandemic is over” must be one of the most frequently uttered phrases of 2021. I am certainly guilty of this kind of optimism, longing for the day when I can get on a plane, have dinner with my friends, and cuddle all the new babies I know who have been born under the restrictive eye of COVID-19.

The misleadingly named Spanish flu pandemic of 1918 was the deadliest in history. It infected around 500 million people worldwide and killed anywhere from 20 million to 50 million. Much like today, citizens were subjected to social restrictions and ordered to wear masks. The pandemic abated, but identifying its precise end is almost impossible.

Subsequent waves of the virus ripped through European and North American cities for years after the pandemic’s supposed end. As late as 1925, and in the space of nine days, 201 people in Chicago died from what the newspapers called a “highly contagious influenza epidemic”. It is hardly surprising, therefore, that there is little evidence in the historical record of parties to commemorate the end of the terrible virus.

Historians of medicine know that pandemics and epidemics are social phenomena. As a result, their endings happen in two ways. There is the medical conclusion of a pandemic, when disease incidence goes down and death rates plummet. But there is also the social end, when fear of the infection decreases and social restrictions ease.

....

[Skittles]

1. a lot of people need to take this to heart

too many are acting as if the entire goal all along has been.....to stop wearing masks

[Hoyt]

2. Would have preferred keeping official restrictions longer, but it's too late

now.

People, even some Democrats, are excited about the new “opening.” I’m not because I’m at least 65% reclusive, but I think it’s gonna be the roaring 20s again.

[AZ8theist]

3. I know EXACTLY the date the pandemic ends......

I also know the EXACT date Jesus returns....

Because, OF COURSE I do.....

[SoCalDavidS]

5. Laurie Garrett Said Around 4-5 Years

She was on Rachel's show very early in the pandemic. She was one of the very, very first who predicted how bad it would be, and boy was she right!

Her explanation centered around how long it would take to get people worldwide vaccinated. Enough to reach herd immunity.

Honestly, I'm not sure we'll reach that level, so it very well could stick around in some form even longer, if not forever.

[Elessar Zappa]

7. It probably will

and we’ll likely need yearly boosters. But we should be able to return to normal pretty soon. The anti vaxxers will always be at risk but you know what? That’s Darwinism at work, IMO.

[SarcasticSatyr]

6. I fear the ripples of this pandemic ..

will be around for years to come.