Do people realise Coronavirus won't be eliminated

[Shockhorrorno]

And they'll always be lots of Coronavirus deaths every year? I get the feeling people think it's going to magically disappear when a vaccine appears, but at best we'll still have Coronavirus deaths similar to flu and pneumonia. And people will still catch it and be left with long covid. Is it time for a reality check on what we're actually going to be able to achieve?

Yes. Next.

I would imagine most people know this yes.

Most people are confused about all of the situation.

Yeah I think the realistic aim is a vaccine will keep infections at a level the NHS can cope with even without restrictions so we can scrap social distancing.

What about people not wanting to catch it because of long covid. What are they hoping for?

I don't think they do realise, no. We've only ever actually managed to eradicate 1 single virus in the entirety of human history, and that took a couple of hundred years... The rest we've simply had to learn to deal with.

@Shockhorrorno

What about people not wanting to catch it because of long covid. What are they hoping for?

I don't know.

But there have been those of us for years and years before now who don't want to catch things for other reasons.

There are other illnesses that exist, that if I catch will have completely life changing effects on my life. That won't happen to the vast majority of people.

This is life. We have our own risks. We work with them. What will threads like this achieve?

To be fair, I am 41 and I've only had bad flu once in my whole life. I think once there's a vaccine and levels are low people with good immune systems might live for decades without getting it. Perhaps that's what people are hoping for.

I don't think the majority do realise. People I talk to are still speaking about "when we get back to normal"

Yes though you have no idea what the death rate will be or how effective the vaccine will be (it could be very effective).
So your reality check isn’t based on true facts.
And the longer we can keep the death rate down, the more time we buy for finding better treatments

@Shockhorrorno

What about people not wanting to catch it because of long covid. What are they hoping for?

They are hoping that treatments improve before they catch it?

Oh come on OP. Surely you must know we can completely eliminate and make this virus disappear if we all follow THE RULES

@toxtethOgradyUSA

Oh come on OP. Surely you must know we can completely eliminate and make this virus disappear if we all follow THE RULES

Don't you know? The virus only comes out after 10pm?

I think lots of people do think that. Lots of bitching on my local social media about if only people stopped breaking the rules this would all be over quicker.
Whereas in fact the more compliant we all are, the more the arse will drag out of it and the more we'll have these endless lockdowns followed by case rises, until we just completely grind the economy to a halt and run out of money.
I daresay at that point we'll decide the virus isn't that scary after all.

What a pity the government didn't use the last eight months to actually increase NHS capacity, but here we are again.

@Thingybob

I don't think the majority do realise. People I talk to are still speaking about "when we get back to normal"

Don’t they mean normal as in being allowed to see family and friends or meet in big groups as opposed to covid disappearing?

The UK governments, particularly in Scotland, keep giving the impression they will force draconian restrictions on us until it does disappear though, and that this is an achievable aim.

No wonder people are confused

What a pity the government didn't use the last eight months to actually increase NHS capacity, but here we are again.

That's it, in a completely nutshell. Thank you.

There was a discussion this morning on Radio 4 about living with Risk. About autonomy for different levels of risk.

I can't stand Clare Fox but I agreed strongly with a few things she said (though not all she said). About how risk comes with responsibility. And risk is something normal in life, why the Precautionary Principle can go to extremes that are unacceptable too.
It was one of the more adult conversations I've heard about the trade offs we're making, but also the philosophical foundations of how decisions are being made at moment.

I know I'm in a minority & I don't try to change the world.

You would think it’s obvious but you do get the “lives over economy, education, job” people on here who are financially illiterate and think that any lockdown measure is worth doing to protect (normally themselves) from catching covid. Rational people realise it’s a shit situation and we can’t completely control the virus so will need to tweak lockdown and accept a certain amount of death as a price worth paying for having a functioning economy which protects more people. That doesn’t make them granny killers - just people who don’t prioritise avoiding covid deaths over everything else.

Yes obviously, but the hope is that a reasonably effective vaccine could reduce circulating levels to the point that we can all behave normally again, with a relatively low chance of getting it.

With a very effective vaccine it might be similar to e.g. whooping cough or measles - a very small number of people catching it every year and no one really worries much about it. Or it might turn it into something you catch once or twice in a lifetime rather than something you might get every year or two.

Yes. We are never going to eradicate or lessen its spread like New Zealand’s managed. As it’s part of the common cold family and now they are saying antibodies may not last long... we need to just adapt and move on from this stalemate situation we’ve become stuck in.
There will be those who do have serious health conditions and need extra support to shield or manage everyday life, and as a civilised society, that’s what we should be doing. The current situation isn’t helping society, individuals or the economy.

I think those proposing school closures and various lockdowns need to realise that this will not eliminate the virus or the problem.

We absolutely need to learn to live with the risks which are very small for the majority.

With a reasonably efficacious vaccine and diffident uptake, we could reduce Covid to something you don’t want to catch, something that will still sadly kill some people, but not a threat to the hospital system.

*sufficient uptake

Research and treatments are improving all the time, too. It's already a much better time to catch covid compared to April-May this year and patient outcomes have improved hugely.

Vaccination, even if not 100% effective, will over time create somewhat of a "herd immunity" type situation - other diseases are similarly controlled by a thorough vaccination programme even if they can't be eliminated.