*I had a long talk with a relative who is a consultant. She is very upset with the public health communication from the government and media. She asked how often were people two years ago asking: which manufacturer made this flu vaccine, which strains are in it, how many variants of flu developed in the past 12 months, etc? Virtually none! Viruses mutate, they always have and always will.
She is very concerned that the emphasis on the downside and an overload of information that the average person can’t understand is going to discourage vaccine take up among younger cohorts, and lead many to simply tune out important info because they can’t handle the negativity.
Who is benefitting from this constant talk of variants and why as you say is it all being pushed so hard right now? In my view it’s done the opposite of making people more vigilant, if anything it’s turned many quite nihilist.*
Agree with all of this. On the one hand it's great that we live in an age where so much information is readily available to all. O the other hand the constant stream of news - often hyped - leads to anxiety and stress.
A year ago, many people barely knew the difference between a virus and a bacteria. 3 months ago, none of us knew what 'variants' were unless maybe talking about different types of latte in Starbucks. Oatmilk or salted caramel? Now it's all doom and gloom about the Kent strain or the South African variant or the Brazil mutation. Not saying there isn't cause for concern but as you say, mutations are inevitable with all viruses.
And of course I'm a part of the problem, given all the time I spend here on on similar discussions. I do wonder how this would have all played out 50 years ago.