[taolegal]

> And the vaccine is a statistically safer bet

Given that the risk of infection is well studied now for average healthy people, where measuring severe outcomes is a matter of how infinitesimally close to 0% it is, I trust my immune system that's the product of millions of years of evolution vs. overly self-confident scientists working alongside pharmaceutical companies maximizing profit and minimizing any knowledge of side-effects and risks associated with their products.

[belltaco]

>I trust my immune system that's the product of millions of years of evolution

And yet it's not very good against smallpox which had a 30% mortality rate and higher in infants. Not to mention HIV or Ebola.

[taolegal]

I love how you selectively omit my statement prefaced with "Given that the risk of infection is well studied now for average healthy people,"

Smallpox is not covid, it's ridiculous to even compare them.

[AstralStorm]

You're right, the correct comparison for COVID is actually measles. And it's more evasive than that - the vaccine and acquired immunity does not hold nearly as well.

Measles was controlled by mass vaccination that provides for years of neutralizing antibody response combined with merciless quarantine on outbreaks.

COVID vaccine of today does not achieve that. It's still much better than nothing, but insufficient to control it.

[taolegal]

> the correct comparison for COVID is actually measles

According to what, infectiousness and transmission?

Measles is still a ridiculous comparison. The only comparison is influenza, SARS or something along those lines.

[AstralStorm]

Literally Rt for either of those is much lower, and sequelae plus death rates don't match in severity. Measles, similar to COVID, temporarily messes up immune system in a number of cases. (Though by a different mechanism.) Besides vaccine effectiveness - which is why COVID is not under control. And it took 20 years to reduce deaths from that virus worldwide. COVID explodes in similar ways as measles when it gets into a school or care facility.

We are slightly lucky the Omicron is not as deadly as Delta... but new variants might be getting there soon.

Even the worst influenza epidemic did not meet the Rt, and it was less deadly than Delta. That 100 years ago, before vaccines, after a huge war with starved people. Flu now has also a half decent vaccine if the predictions work, better at neutralizing it and limiting the spread.

I want to hear a reasoned argument why it should be compared to influenza or SARS, besides "it is an airborne spread". Even MERS is not there.

[taolegal]

> We are slightly lucky the Omicron is not as deadly as Delta... but new variants might be getting there soon.

this is exactly the type of unbounded fearmongering and disinformation that supposed science-advocates love to spread, as though covid will slip into a wave of death at any moment after experts forced everyone to get injected under the promise that it'd all end

> Flu now has also a half decent vaccine if the predictions work, better at neutralizing it and limiting the spread

half decent? that's a really generous framing for hit-or-miss low efficacy.