[time_to_smile]

> Anecdotal stories don't paint an accurate picture

You would have thought that after 800,000+ deaths in the US people would have learned the importance of understanding statistics when dealing with these issues, especially on a place like HN, but pandemic has melted people's brains and now people are arguing anecdotes about what constitutes a "bad cold" and a "mild flu".

The funny part is that it doesn't really matter because it's not like we get to collectively vote whether the pandemic will end or not. It's pretty clear that, even given how extremely contagious omicron is, people don't care as much as the used to about a seasonal flu.

Even supposing covid sticks around and becomes "only" as bad as the flu, 10 years ago if your said it was fine to double the annual cases of flu and flu death people would have said that was insane.

Sadly if people haven't learned to reason about these problems correctly now, it means they very likely never will.

[brandonmenc]

> 10 years ago if your said it was fine to double the annual cases of flu and flu death people would have said that was insane.

And if you told them that things like lockdowns and vaccine mandates were still in effect at that point, they'd say that was insane too.

[time_to_smile]

> vaccine mandates were still in effect at that point, they'd say that was insane too.

No, that one is particularly weird right now. Vaccines are essentially mandated for many parts of life, and have been for my entire life. At multiple points throughout my development I've had to get required vaccines to do things. I had never even heard of antivaxxers until my late 20s. They used to be laughed at as an insane fringe group on HN.

Nobody in 2011 would have thought it was weird that vaccines would be mandated. I suspect if I predicted on HN that there would be strong resistance to a vaccine in the event of a global pandemic people would have laughed at me as ridiculous.

People don't like vaccines because they don't like the reality we're in and they strangely think resisting wearing masks and resisting vaccines somehow makes it less real. Unfortunately it has made things much worse.

[spurgu]

> Vaccines are essentially mandated for many parts of life

Not ones requiring multiple jabs per year, seemingly forever (unless something like Omicron comes along).

Also not experimental ones rushed out with an EUA. Would you accept a mandate of the Chinese or Cuban vaccine, twice per year, for your whole family, for the whole foreseeable future?

> Nobody in 2011 would have thought it was weird that vaccines would be mandated.

You'd be very wrong. I remember very well that people were highly vocal against the H1N1 vaccine a decade ago and would've (rightfully so) lost their minds with mandates. Turned out the vaccine caused narcolepsy in kids[0], among other things. I never had that vaccine. My pregnant partner did (which turned out to be a lucky gamble).

> resisting wearing masks

Barring N95/FPP2+ masks it's mainly theater. It will be interesting to read all about this in a year or three once the heated political agendas have subsided.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_swine_flu_pandemic_vaccin...

[brandonmenc]

Mandated vaccines for adults in the United States actually is weird and unprecedented in the modern era.

It's so unprecedented and unpopular an idea that everyone - including Biden - were falling all over themselves assuring us they would under no circumstances mandate the Covid vaccine.