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Comment by vkou | Hacker News Reader

You don't need to obsess over this, but you do need to remember that there has been, and continues to be a large pro-COVID faction that insists that getting everyone sick with it will be no big deal, because it only kills <0.X%> of people in <particular age range>.

They were, of course, speaking from a position of ignorance of long-term side effects, because the data wasn't yet in. It's been two years, and in many ways, the data is still not in yet.

We'll have another go-around[1] on the COVID rodeo next holiday season, if another dangerous variant emerges.

[1] Just because the news has forgotten about the virus, doesn't mean that the virus has forgotten about us. There are more daily worldwide cases right now, then there have been at any point prior to November 2021. That's a lot of opportunity for variants to mutate.

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Most are willing to live life to the fullest with negligible risks. Others who want to live life locked down and living in a plastic bubble, feel free to do so. If you think Covid can be eradicated with zero-covid policies, look at how China is faring [1]. Live and let live.

[1] https://www.reuters.com/world/china/refuse-quarantine-frustr...

The whole point of this sub-thread is that for the past two years, there has been no end of wishful-thinking arguments that tried their best to downplay and ignore the risks.

But your raise an excellent point - if only there were solutions that allowed you to live life to the fullest with negligible risks...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaccination

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hand_washing

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Source_control_(respiratory_di...

A life well-lived comes with inherent risks.

I'm not saying I want to go live recklessly, but I'd rather die slightly less old and happy, than old and miserable because I spent it worrying only to realize on my deathbed that I never lived.

> I'm not saying I want to go live recklessly, but I'd rather die slightly less old and happy, than old and miserable because I spent it worrying only to realize on my deathbed that I never lived.

So you're somewhere in the middle, like basically everyone else? Or are you saying that you're the reasonable one and anybody who takes precautions against COVID infection is living their life in a miserable state of worry?

> speaking from a position of ignorance of long-term side effects, because the data wasn't yet in.

That’s a two-way street (which I don’t think you’re denying). In 20 years it may turn out that the shot was worse than the disease.

> It's been two years, and in many ways, the data is still not in yet.

But we hopefully aren’t expected to hide until the data are in?

You're expected to take simple, cheap precautions, proportionate to the expected consequences.

You're also expected to not take what you think is the best case scenario, and extrapolate that it's the scenario that we are actually in.

One cannot live in 2022 without catching covid, the level of precautions I would have to take to avoid it would be extreme and damage my quality of life and probably my mental health.

I've definitely had it once, likely twice, just doing basic things exposes me to it now, so what can I do?

Try wearing an N95 mask, for starters

That doesn’t really work if people around you do not. One less trip out of your house so you only leave 4 times a week instead of 5 is several orders of magnitude better than going out with an N95 the 5 times.

If you actually care about Covid the answer is to not leave the house. Putting an n95 on when the mandates are gone so nobody else is wearing one is just a religious act at this point.

that's quite an exaggeration, and it hurts me personally to think that when I go out and im the only one wearing a mask, people are looking at me as though I'm engaged in a "religious act". For people who aren't immunocompromised, the N95 will grant a significant level of protection even if others aren't masked, especially if you're outdoors or in an otherwise well ventilated space, if you have short interactions from those who aren't masked and maintain distance, it all helps. obviously if I had my N95 and spent three hours in a crowded bar, that's a bit pointless, talking here about places that aren't tightly packed with non-masked people who are all talking 2 inches away from each other.

It is obviously not absolute protection and of course going nowhere at all is the best protection, but a properly worn N95 combined with up-to-date vaccination goes pretty far for someone who is fortunate enough to not be already immunocompromised and is fine avoiding places like concerts, clubs and bars.

> especially if you're outdoors or in an otherwise well ventilated space

Citation needed that it’s not being outdoors or a well-ventilated space that is doing all of the work and not the mask.

> but a properly worn N95 combined with up-to-date vaccination goes pretty far for someone who is fortunate enough to not be already immunocompromised and is fine avoiding places like concerts, clubs and bars.

You’re all over the place here. I’m talking specifically about avoiding all of those things as well but just skipping the mask. The risk profiles between those two are so negligible that skipping a single trip out to an enclosed space is orders of magnitude better than the difference between them.

That’s why what you’re doing is just a “religious act” at this point. There is no good medical reason for you to wear it if you’re already going out. 99.999% of the risk comes from the “going out” part if everyone else is unmasked, so wtf are you doing at a grocery store/restaurant/whatever if you are actually worried about getting COVID?

It’s no different than bringing a parachute on a commercial flight. The chance of you crashing on a flight are tiny and the probability of you being able to use a parachute if you are in one of those scenarios and surviving are less than 1% as well.

Replace "N95" with "single layer cloth mask"

We need to just all stay inside forever. Be safe my friend.

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