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Comment by umvi | Hacker News Reader

Somehow I think these super heavy handed measures toward covid are a big mistake.

My opinion:

- Remove all restrictions, let people assess their own risk tolerance and voluntarily follow country's health guidance (or not).

- If ICUs start getting maxed out, implement bed rationing, with unvaccinated patients having lowest priority.

- Tell everyone to go on with their lives and that covid is here to stay. There's no eradicating it. Vaccines will be updated periodically just like the flu for those that want it.

Does anyone have a better endgame? I'd love to hear it. Because currently "the plan" I'm hearing from governments is "wear a mask and social distance until the end of time and get boosters every 6 months until the end of time"

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That's the most rational plan. However pharma companies can just buy media presence, create panic and criticize their authorities(this happens to Bolsonaro in Brazil for example). Then riots begin, generating a whole other set of problems for the authorities who have no other choice but to save their neck and concede pharma companies demands.

What about people who are forced to be near unvaccinated people? Like at school and work? For those who are immunocompromised it would mean either a death sentence or banishment from large parts of society.

> What about people who are forced to be near unvaccinated people? Like at school and work?

I'm not sure what the concern here is, but if the concern is that vaccinated people might infect and kill their unvaccinated peers... again, the unvaccinated made their choice, and there may or may not be consequences depending on their symptoms and whether the ICU is full.

Immunocompromised people who can't get vaccinated... they are already effectively banished from society with or without my plan because vaccinated people can spread it to them (and kill them). I don't see a way for the immunocompromised to return to normalcy ever. It is impossible to eradicate covid. Luckily (from what I understand) people in that situation are extremely rare.

I am personally in favor of what you've stated. I don't believe we will ever be rid of covid, it is likely endemic. To add to your list, I would like to see additional measures put in place to provide adequate ventilation and filtering of the air. I am becoming increasingly convinced that promotion of cleaner air would serve well to reduce the impact of airborne diseases.

Problem with this is that bed rationing is seen by many as unethical. Plus there are gray zones, you're putting young people in horrible moral conundrums on a day to day basis.

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