To the younger people who do not understand, once upon a time in America and elsewhere, total eradication of diseases was the goal of public health programs, and while they did not all succeed and there were definitely fuckups (like the entire early US handling of the AIDS epidemic), that goal was considered sane and just and normal--and the eradication of polio was lauded! Public health programs and science at their best! We got rid of a disease that killed people and destroyed lives and we got rid of it so well that we don't even vax against it anymore.*

And one worldwide pandemic later, as infections and reinfections of a novel virus play absolute havoc with people's bodies and immune systems, FUCKING POLIO suddenly reappears and we are seeing a resurgence of other diseases and people being absolutely flattened by a strange, long flu season?

And people are acting like this is normal? That dropping all safety precautions and expecting people to get 1-2 Covid infections a year is normal and just how things have always been? Instead of fighting it as hard as we could in the first place like what used to be the goal???

There are going to be (and already are) so many longstanding medical conditions from this and that is not even mentioning whatever measles-like bullshit it is doing to immune systems.

And not to be that person but hospital workers are already Done, the system is already exhausted.

*in America

I scream. Keep your fucking masks on. And follow ProjectN95 on Twitter if you want links to good quality masks.