That comparison makes no sense. A road accident injures/kills only the people involved. Stupidity with a virus has a snowball effect.

For example, look at Australia. They had it contained, yet some people working in the quarantine hotel couldn't keep it in their pants, and let it escape. The wave that caused in July 2020 ended up killing 800 people before it was all under control again.

Early on, back in Feb of 2020 it was leaked that everyone is probably going to catch covid-19 and earlier this year with delta rearing its head every expert pretty much conceded that it really is only a matter of time, even for those previously vaxxed. So I don't get why people are still of the mind that there is any chance it is going away. Remember, there are multiple non-human reservoirs for this virus now, dontcha remember hearing about how 40% of white-tailed deer tested positive for sars-cov-2 antibodies?

At high risk, frail, old, immunocompromised, walking comorbidities etc... should obviously be taking precautions and doing everything they can to avoid it/minimize their risks.

People ought to really look into ways they can mitigate the disease when it does come for them and wonder why all the health entities are mum about this. You know, I find it strange that people like Dr. Fauci admit to taking vitamin c and 5000iu of Vitamin D daily yet the NIH and other health agencies don't recommend it. 

This is something that everyone should look into and consider having on hand, esp those that are extremely medically vulnerable/frail.

There is probably no one on the planet that understands and knows more about this disease than Dr. Paul Marik.

For those that have the time and like listening to old men.

I see, yes it's possible that people are just generally less healthy than they could be and that becoming healthier would save a lot of lives during these times. That's hard to quantify but it's conceivable. 

I too hope we don't go back to where we were, but I think I'd prefer we took illness more serious in general. I see those Flu deaths and think that we should take those vaccinations more seriously, allow people to mask up without stigma when they're sick, and make it more acceptable to take off from work when you'll ill so you don't spread it. But we should work on lots of issues, just different focuses for different people I guess. 

Yep, apples and oranges. Maybe once these idiots ('cuz that's what I'm gonna call these anti-vax nutjobs) stop spreading a deadly disease around and infecting others with their stupidity, we'll consider letting them drive without their seatbelt. In the meantime:

And what's funny is, there's an anti-mask/anti-vax restaurant in California (Basilico's) enforcing their lunacy by forcing anyone to enter to show proof of being unvaccinated and NOT to wear masks. On their Facebook page, they have a ton of posts calling pro-mask/vaxxers anti-freedom tyrants who want to suppress freedom with mask mandates and lockdowns. And the even funnier thing? If anyone's gonna force us into further lockdowns, it's them and everyone who "thinks" like they do.

Agreed. A lot of problems come from sick leaf erring on the side of abuse. It's a tricky subject, many people send their kids to school anyway when they're sick(ish) because they have to go to work and have no options (and indeed go in feeling under the weather themselves as well) Hence schools being so efficient at spreading colds and flu around.

@RolStoppable There was no option not to lock down though. The initial plan in the UK to weather through the storm was not abandoned on the predicted loss of life from Covid-19, it was abandoned because it would overwhelm the healthcare system so much society would grind to a halt. Corpses piling up wasn't fear mongering. In fact, the worst or rather the reality was mostly kept off the news. What governments feared the most was panic breaking out, which luckily stayed contained to a raid on toilet paper.

The lock downs were the last resort to keep the healthcare system working and not end up in a situation as in Italy early on and India's big wave.

Looking back, there is no blame to put on doing too much. There is only blame to put on responding too slowly. Yet the problem there was, and still is, if you prevent the worst, people start wondering what all the fuss is/was about...

But yes, better health education and eating habits should be part of the school curriculum. It is sort of, but the problem is that unhealthy food costs less, is easier to get, better preserved, better shelf life, quick/easy to eat. Regulations are needed to chance the balance.

Btw teenage obesity is skyrocketing, they are not spared from the worst of covid-19 because of generally more healthy habits. Unfortunately the pandemic has only made that worse with online learning, sport activities closed, more game time, more depression, more unhealthy snacking.

It doesn't make sense?

A driver can cause a massive pile up, especially in winter... Now even if it's say, the vehicles fault, not the drivers, through a broken poorly engineered part that causes the incident. That vehicle may also get recalled because of the weak part, but nobody has to bring their vehicle in. They can just keep driving anyway, potentially killing more people. We do nothing and it's totally accepted. One of infinite things we just turn a blind eye to each and every day.

Oh, and I like how the covid to driving analogy made no sense, but covid 'anti-vax' to MAGA somehow does? I mean Trump always has been against vaccines, especially this one, and is constantly telling people he didn't get vaxed, and that they shouldn't either, so. Wait a minute, did somebody just try to own the Cons?

As for the 'anti-vax' business, while I'd like to say they're being irresponsible, either opposition would simply say, in their favor, "they're a private business and can operate however they wish." It's a double edged sword in todays all encompassing political world, unfortunately.

If a concerned citizen who doesn't want the jab, is basically forced to take it (like say for their (specialized) job), then dies shortly after anyway, for whatever reason, driving or not, well. Even worse, what if the person who kills the now vaxed, 'anti-vaxer', is a double dosed 'vax addict'?

Apples and oranges? Death is death. Or is dying in a car accident no big deal when dying from a virus is? Or is it just because car accidents are normalized, so all we have to do is wait for covid to be normalized then nobody has to care anymore like the flu?

Since more analogies seem unlikely to help, I'll end with this. Not many are truly thinking long term, though a few here actually are.

Just think about what'll happen if covid strains continue and happen to get much worse. Or maybe it's not virus related but some other 'mainstream' problem causing some deaths. As more and more guidelines, rules, lockdowns, etc, are pushed, more and more people will resist and push back because of the flip flopping and overreach this time around. Think of covid as a first impression, and a considerable amount of people are not impressed in the least, so they won't be 'coming back for another meal', or 'won't be accepting a second date', and how can you really blame them with how things have been handled?

It's possible to have your cake and eat it.

You could compare a massive pile-up with a super spreader event. However all the drivers involved in the massive pile-up won't automatically go on to create secondary incidents. All those infected at a super spreader event will infect more people. That's the difference.

There are plenty rules for car safety, problem is people ignore them. Massive pile-ups happen because people drive irresponsibly, too fast, not adjusting to the weather conditions. True, in that sense it's the same as people ignoring social distancing, vaccination and lock downs. However speed limits and seat belt use are enforced, if you cause an accident you get fined and or thrown in jail if you were speeding, driving dangerously, tailgating or driving under the influence. Even when you only hurt yourself you risk losing your license and your job. (Happened to a kid from a friend of ours. He lost control in bad weather, ended up flipped upside down in a ditch, police determined he was driving too fast for the weather conditions and was in deep shit)

However again, car accidents don't cause more car accidents. If anti vaxxers only troubled themselves without overloading the hospital system we wouldn't have any extra measures anymore for Covid either. All the measures are based on the current strain on healthcare. They always were. Hence all the flip flopping, conflicting messages, since politics need to sell you your safety, while all it is about is to keep society going.

It's the same with Flu. After a bad flu year putting more strain on the health care system, flu vaccines come back in the news next year, get your shot, do your part. After a low flu year, it goes into the background again.

So yes, car accidents, flu etc are all 'normalized' based on what we can handle. Covid will get there as well most likely, but for now it still poses too great a risk to our fragile healthcare system to 'let go'. And unfortunately it's not just anti vaxxers that can spread the disease. Monday numbers: 527 cases involved people who are either unvaccinated, partially vaccinated or their vaccination status is unknown. The remaining 167 infections involved people who are fully vaccinated. And the role of asymptomatic spreaders is pretty much unknown as well. There is no talk about that anymore while there was plenty in the beginning. Who knows how many spreaders there are under vaccinated people that don't show any symptoms thanks to the vaccines.

Anyway, it seems we're reaching the new normal. Many countries are now stabilizing their daily covid case counts. Flattening out the curve without going down or further up. We'll see how many measures are needed in Canada to reach 'stability'. Masks are likely to stay, more places will make vaccines mandatory, fines for sending kids to school sick etc. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/vaughn-parent-fined-covid-19-daycare-1.6142610

Btw Trump changed his stance, flip flop (why is he still doing rallies... during an ongoing pandemic...)
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-booed-alabama-rally-after-telling-supporters-get-vaccinated-n1277404


Time to move on I guess. The pandemic pretty much killed my wife's business and desire to continue with cultivating. She just took another $1200 loss. A shipment from the states was held back at the border (or rather inspection facility in Missisauga), sitting there for a month. When they finally inspected the shipment all the plants had gone moldy and were rejected, send back. She just got pictures of how the plants came back, unsalvageable. Out the shipping costs as well. The post office denies responsibility of course, can't do anything. Rare plants destroyed, can't get replacements for at least another 4 years (have to grow new ones first) Over a month of stress, calling after the various agencies involved over and over for nothing. The fallout continues.

Well China is trying to keep kids healthy. Or rather control their minds, but it's a step away from the modern lifestyle ;)
https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2021-08-31-china-cuts-online-gaming-for-under-18s-to-just-an-hour-per-day

Data from a Zoe study in the UK show much less waning in vaccine efficacy than Israel, likely a courtesy of the larger gap between doses. Probably won't fall below 50% before 12 - 18 months as opposed to six.

That being said, a six or nine-month booster would likely be even more long-lasting, perhaps dramatically so, given what we know from Polio, Hepatitis, etc. So once again the threat would be variants and not waning.

In a way, that means it's good Delta is so dominant, since it reduces viral entropy (the number of lineages with distinct mutations). You can more safely make a Delta booster because you know the next dominant strain is coming from it.