Are We Better Prepared Now for Another Pandemic? (nymag.com)
- Reference: 0175785629
- News link: https://science.slashdot.org/story/24/12/29/2152207/are-we-better-prepared-now-for-another-pandemic
- Source link: https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/bird-flu-raw-milk-outbreak-california.html
But even in the event of a worst-case scenario, New York magazine believes " [2]We may be more equipped for another pandemic than you think ..."
> In 2023, more than half of people surveyed said that their lives had not returned to normal since the COVID outbreak, and a surprising number — 47 percent — said they now believe their lives will never return to normal.
>
> But do we really know how a new pandemic would go and how we would handle it? Things are different this time — and in ways that aren't all bad. Unlike with COVID in the spring of 2020, millions of doses of bird-flu vaccines at various stages of testing sit in government stockpiles, and more are on the way. There are also already tests that work, though these are not broadly available to the public... Recent research suggests that we might actually manage a second pandemic better than we would believe. Despite all the noise to the contrary, a June poll by Harvard's School of Public Health says that Americans overall think the government responses to COVID — asking people to wear masks, pausing indoor dining, requiring health-care workers to get vaccinated — were all good ideas. Although the media tends to paint school closures as radically unpopular, only 44 percent of respondents said they currently think the shutdowns were a mistake.
>
> A growing body of research also suggests that many Americans feel stronger for what we endured during the most extreme days of COVID. Counter to what we like to say about our friends and neighbors and children, the challenge of the pandemic may have benefited some people's mental health. One study found that "children entering the pandemic with clinically meaningful mental-health problems experienced notable improvements in their mental health." (Turns out there's one thing worse than shutting down an American school and that's having to attend it.)
The article also points out that "There is no real information" on the likelihood of a bird-flu virus even crossing over into humans.
And of course, "COVID still kills, with a body count just shy of 50,000 Americans in 2024, and it feels like a stretch to say that Americans are particularly concerned."
[1] https://www.cdc.gov/bird-flu/spotlights/h5n1-response-12232024.html
[2] https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/bird-flu-raw-milk-outbreak-california.html
Re: (Score:1)
> shutdowns went on for months
Anyone with any sense stopped going out to eat in the presence of probably-infected people, or even going shopping without a mask.
What I learned (Score:4, Insightful)
Public health is in your own hands. If other people want to be risky morons, let them - no amount of evidence will convince them of anything they aren't already primed to believe.
Re:What I learned (Score:4, Insightful)
Sadly, this isn't how it works.
If others act as disease breeding (and mutation) grounds and communication vectors, then public health cannot be in your own hands.
Re: (Score:2)
Note that this is the reason that we have laws against things like defecating not in a toilet or on someone else's property.
'cause that crap spreads disease.
So, you can say it is in your own hands as much as you want, but it isn't true at all so long as you're other than a self-sufficient carveout from all of society (no trading/buying with that society in any dependent way either).
Practically, that is noone.
The Risk (Score:1)
The risk of a pandemic is low until it is high. And once again we have someone in charge who maybe should be in charge because planning and logistics is not really their thing.
Unlikely (Score:2)
Covid was a hoax by the democrats [1]https://www.nbcnews.com/politi... [nbcnews.com]
And the head of the health department is an anti vaxxer who had literal brain parasites [2]https://www.pbs.org/newshour/h... [pbs.org]
We'll be just fine...
[1] https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-calls-coronavirus-democrats-new-hoax-n1145721
[2] https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/did-a-tapeworm-really-eat-part-of-robert-f-kennedy-jr-s-brain
School closures unpopular in media (Score:2)
Although the media tends to paint school closures as radically unpopular , only 44 percent of respondents said they currently think the shutdowns were a mistake.
Media is skewed in general with the narrative that someone else needs to solve, pay for and take the first step towards taking care of your own children.
This is the Prince Charming Narrative of the person to be saved by Prince Charming
- Dependency mindset
- Expectations of rescue
- Framing their own choices as someone else's responsibility to fix
-
Re: (Score:2)
> media tends to paint school closures as radically unpopular,
I mean... they were. If you were still working, you suddenly had daycare issues. Your kid, if the social type (like most are) started going squirrely. An entire cohort has higher levels of anxiety and social retardation. There were negative effects on academic performance.
My kids got lucky, they're more introverted than most and with a dad in IT to set them up, actually did better in school while never leaving the house.
But 'unpopular' and
Politics says no (Score:2)
We could be better prepared.. but the pandemic response was politicized, and so we'll probably see worse outcomes next go round.
Nope (Score:2)
At the political level, we do not have the will to do what should be done. At the population level, we don't even have the belief that we should.
Last time we decided "fuck the old and the sick, if they die they die". And we decided, "I'd rather take my chances than stay away from church and sporting events for a while". And finally, we decided to let people walk around unmasked and unvaccinated as if their freedom was more important than our lives. And instead we focus on minor details as if to prove th
Yes and No (Score:2)
"Are We Better Prepared Now for Another Pandemic? "
In theory, yes, we should be.
In reality, probably not.
In fact, I'm 100% certain that we'll see the same type of idiots spreading the same type of disinformation, just like last time.
"Masks don't help!" (they do)
"It's just the flu!" (it's not)
"Take (horse/dog/sheep medication) and you'll be safe!" (you won't)
"It's a gubmint plot to control us!" (it's not)
"It's a hoax!" (it's not)
"People are dying, but not from it!" (they are)
You'll see every one of these cla
Mostly, it’s about the change in vaccines (Score:2)
Before covid, making and rolling out a new vaccine took like 24 months because it was a hit-or-miss process involving millions of chickens. Nowadays, a competent molecular biologist can design a custom vaccine using software that’s a lot like CAD, order it over the internet, and get a 55-gallon drum of it delivered to next week.
Ok, that’s an exaggeration but only slightly. There are definitely going to be more pandemics, but the vaccines will show up in a matter of weeks and nothing is like
Re: Yes we are (Score:1)
I remember things differently. Weirdly, pretty much the opposite of your summary.
What I will agree on is that lockdowns have a negative societal effect. That was well known before, during and after though.
Back on topic, I suspect we're probably worse off now than we were. We have a whole lot of people thinking they know best because "*we* were fine last time around", few countries have any money left because they bailed out sections of their economies and more countries than ever have a new crop of leaders
Re: (Score:2)
You're like every anti-vaxxer lunatic rolled into one. The only thing you missed was the part about taking lots of horse dewormer.