At this point we need to acknowledge that there will be no "overcoming" it and it will be endemic, like the flu.
1. A large number of people globally don't have access to the vaccine yet.
2. A large proportion of the USA's population either doesn't feel motivated to get the vaccine or is explicitly opposed to it.
There will come a day where we collectively say that enough is enough and we've done all we can, but there is still a lot of work to do before we get to that point. Managing the spread and improving vaccination numbers will overall reduce the damage done to people and the health system when we reach that point.
For instance, go to one of the beaches right in Barcelona, topless. Another example, go to Baker Beach in SF, topless and bottomless. A third example, go to beaches in some of the Greek islands, topless and bottomless.
Another example, in the summer, do you see men go around topless?
Yet another example, go to bathhouses in Turkey or Japan.
Yet another example, go to your local gym's locker room.
Yet another example, all those tribal peoples that you read about. Many of them were topless and were often bottomless.
Yet another example. Go to the Folsom Street Parade or Bay to Breakers in SF.
How is this endangering anyone other than your prudishness that you want to impose on others?
I'm amazed that people still come with the "safety belt" argument.
We've had decades of increase protections about food additives, GMOs, hormones in animals, etc on the principle of precaution with everything related to health, because things in this matter are complex. And now for some reason, we should stop thinking about tradeoffs and unknown unknowns over long terms consequences eventhough we're talking about treating the whole world population.
You gotta get the MMR vaccine to go to a public school. You gotta get Tetanus and other vaccines to go to college.
FYI: i'm french, so i have absolutely no interest in that Dem vs Rep debate, and people here i know that are the most reluctant about vaccination with mRNA vaccines are the ones that are the closest to being ecologist activists.
EDIT: as for other compulsory vaccines, that's why i mentioned "new product" / technology. We're not even talking about a new vaccine, we're talking about a completely new technology to produce an immunity response.
If you'd like to read up on mRNA vaccines, here's an article from the pre-COVID days, before something as simple as a scientific advancement to fight disease became so politically charged.
https://www.nature.com/articles/nrd.2017.243
Ecological activists, by numbers, are a round off error in the debate over this vaccine. It is absolutely tainted with politics, as the majority of anti-vaxxers land on one side of the political spectrum. I know some. It's everything from "it's the mark of the beast" to "I'm not so sure about this". What really underlies it is a deep, irrational selfishness that doesn't want to do a damn thing, even if, and especially if COVID doesn't seem that risky for that person. That whole line of reasoning is a fail. People who want the pandemic to be over know that vaccination is the only way. Sitting on your ass, no matter what is in your head, and being another vessel for this shit to mutate is actively prolonging it.
So yeah, I absolutely pounce on ignorant people who are prolonging this.
The scientific community seems to be very divided on whether "getting rid of covid" is even a goal at this point (at least based on what i read on what virologist and epidemiologist say).
I feel you (like many others) have failed to put their instinctive repulsion for the archetypal anti-vaxer aside and objectively evaluate the pros and cons of every strategy.
EDIT: thanks for the paper, but already the title itself says it all and seem to comfort my position: "a new era in vaccinology". We all know what happens with 1.0 versions of a brand new tech, right ? I'll still take the time to read it entirely since you've taken the time to send it to me.
EDIT: Meningitis is the exception.
https://www.webmd.com/vaccines/features/vaccines-for-college...
EDIT: Example, University of Texas,
https://www.healthyhorns.utexas.edu/requiredvaccine/
Meningitis and measles
That's not a very convincing argument - it could be applied to anything. "We force you to show ID to fly on a plane, so being forced to show ID to access the internet should be accepted".