I'm tired of hearing "living in fear" equated with taking basic precautions to prevent the spread of disease, on HN of all places. It's just a dog whistle.
I for one feel it massively reduces the quality of my interactions and trust in people. I find it much harder to communicate properly. The long term consequences of this are not taken into account.
And I'm vaccinated, everyone in my country who wants to be vaccinated is. Why should I reduce the quality of my life for people who made a choice and took a risk? I actually don't mind that they made this choice, it's their risk. But don't destroy my quality of life for people who knowingly are taking a risk on their end.
Vaccination isn’t a magic talisman against infection, or against illness if infected, or against transmitting the disease if infected. It reduces the likelihood of each, all other things being equal, but it isn't a guarantee against any of them (and is less so against Delta, “Delta Plus", and apparently Lambda than other strains so far.
Masking further reduces both inbound and outbound transmission, and is just a basic precaution.
Also cold/flu cases are way down due to people masking up and cleaning hands.
A lot of people complain about seatbelts being uncomfortable during driving, and yet its a law to wear them. Why?
Oh yes, I too take sick leave when I have runny nose until its gone
Long before covid mask wearing has been an insanely common thing to do when you're sick.
Masking in flu season isn’t uncommon in some parts of the world, and it was a lot more common during the 1918-1920 pandemic, so, “humanity” as a whole is not a constant.
Cultural variation aside, different respiratory viruses have different combinations of infectiousness and deadliness and responses to various countermeasures, so their are rational reasons the reactions to each, given a constant utility function, would differ. The common cold, the 2019 seasonal flu, the 1919 pandemic flu, and COVID-19 are all very different things.