OMG! There’s no vaccine!
Discussion
Jasandjules said:
Thankyou4calling said:
What if despite all the best efforts no vaccine worked against Covid-19.
What would life be like now?
The same as it is now. The natural life cycle of a pandemic is pretty well known... Did we have a vaccine for the plague?What would life be like now?
This is the first time in history that herd immunity is only achievable through vaccination, rather than exposure.
According to the WHO, that is, who have no vested interests whatsoever.
Edited by RSTurboPaul on Friday 16th April 18:20
The response to coronavirus is largely down to media hype, we routinely accept huge deaths from other causes. The problem is that it has become a political hot potato, which can be used to beat politicians or countries over the head with when they are considered to be poor performers (by whatever metric) or to elevate the status of politicians or countries adjudged to have performed well.
Immunity normally provides a level of protection from most virus outbreaks, although this may take years to fully protect us. The human race has suffered countless plagues and pandemics down the years, many of which were much worse than Covid-19 but none of them has actually managed to wipe us out thus far.
I don't actually know what the government response would be, but I firmly believe that they would continue to shuffle their scientific advisors into the firing line in order to obviate any criticism; 'We are following the science on this' being the government mantra.
Immunity normally provides a level of protection from most virus outbreaks, although this may take years to fully protect us. The human race has suffered countless plagues and pandemics down the years, many of which were much worse than Covid-19 but none of them has actually managed to wipe us out thus far.
I don't actually know what the government response would be, but I firmly believe that they would continue to shuffle their scientific advisors into the firing line in order to obviate any criticism; 'We are following the science on this' being the government mantra.
What if there is no vaccine? Good question!
I hope that there would be a better understanding of hygiene, personal space and improvements in public health and policies. But, chances are, humans will get some sort of herd immunity (well thats probably the wrong term, but you know what I mean) where the virus will naturally reduce in its spread rate. I also suspect that people will start to be more insular in where they go, travel and vacation. But is it a massive difference to what we have seen in the last 12 months? Maybe more open, similar restrictions but probably very similar for a while at least.
What frustrates me is that people have got fixated on a "thing" that they cant do and somehow this is a massive issue. For some its mask wearing. For others its going to a restaurant and others its about going on some vacation. I dont get why people get so het-up about these things, but clearly these are very important to some and being told that you cant go to a bar or restaurant or that you have to wear a mask for 20 minutes while you shop..... clearly these are the deal breakers for them. I fully expect to see a further entrenchment of this viewpoint for some if we had no vaccine. Which will further divide and separate families, communities and the population as a whole. Its a shame that something so small has such a big effect.
I hope that there would be a better understanding of hygiene, personal space and improvements in public health and policies. But, chances are, humans will get some sort of herd immunity (well thats probably the wrong term, but you know what I mean) where the virus will naturally reduce in its spread rate. I also suspect that people will start to be more insular in where they go, travel and vacation. But is it a massive difference to what we have seen in the last 12 months? Maybe more open, similar restrictions but probably very similar for a while at least.
What frustrates me is that people have got fixated on a "thing" that they cant do and somehow this is a massive issue. For some its mask wearing. For others its going to a restaurant and others its about going on some vacation. I dont get why people get so het-up about these things, but clearly these are very important to some and being told that you cant go to a bar or restaurant or that you have to wear a mask for 20 minutes while you shop..... clearly these are the deal breakers for them. I fully expect to see a further entrenchment of this viewpoint for some if we had no vaccine. Which will further divide and separate families, communities and the population as a whole. Its a shame that something so small has such a big effect.
anonymous said:
[redacted]
It will always be with us, but immunity gained from exposure will render it 'just another coronavirus', like the four we already deal with perfectly well.Spanish Flu arrived, did its thing, disappeared. I believe it may have been one of the above four endemic versions.
off_again said:
What if there is no vaccine? Good question!
I hope that there would be a better understanding of hygiene, personal space and improvements in public health and policies. But, chances are, humans will get some sort of herd immunity (well thats probably the wrong term, but you know what I mean) where the virus will naturally reduce in its spread rate. I also suspect that people will start to be more insular in where they go, travel and vacation. But is it a massive difference to what we have seen in the last 12 months? Maybe more open, similar restrictions but probably very similar for a while at least.
What frustrates me is that people have got fixated on a "thing" that they cant do and somehow this is a massive issue. For some its mask wearing. For others its going to a restaurant and others its about going on some vacation. I dont get why people get so het-up about these things, but clearly these are very important to some and being told that you cant go to a bar or restaurant or that you have to wear a mask for 20 minutes while you shop..... clearly these are the deal breakers for them. I fully expect to see a further entrenchment of this viewpoint for some if we had no vaccine. Which will further divide and separate families, communities and the population as a whole. Its a shame that something so small has such a big effect.
Proof those restrictions have a net benefit?I hope that there would be a better understanding of hygiene, personal space and improvements in public health and policies. But, chances are, humans will get some sort of herd immunity (well thats probably the wrong term, but you know what I mean) where the virus will naturally reduce in its spread rate. I also suspect that people will start to be more insular in where they go, travel and vacation. But is it a massive difference to what we have seen in the last 12 months? Maybe more open, similar restrictions but probably very similar for a while at least.
What frustrates me is that people have got fixated on a "thing" that they cant do and somehow this is a massive issue. For some its mask wearing. For others its going to a restaurant and others its about going on some vacation. I dont get why people get so het-up about these things, but clearly these are very important to some and being told that you cant go to a bar or restaurant or that you have to wear a mask for 20 minutes while you shop..... clearly these are the deal breakers for them. I fully expect to see a further entrenchment of this viewpoint for some if we had no vaccine. Which will further divide and separate families, communities and the population as a whole. Its a shame that something so small has such a big effect.
I read a really interesting article about vaccine generation.
Basically if a reasonable percentage people can fight off the virus naturally then you're in a pretty good place. Because "all" you have to do is locate those anti bodies and essentially create enough of a trigger to enable them to be produced in the wider population. You have enough people to track what thier immune system is doing at every stage of the process.
If there was a virus where there were no known human survivors (or only very few) then you're basically s
t out of luck, because you don't know what you're looking for, which means you don't know what trigger will set off your immune system in the right way to create something that we don't know if it may or may not fight the virus. Like firing an arrow into the sky, blind folded, hoping to shoot down a bird that you don't even know exists.
The plague was very different because that's not a virus, it's a bacterial infection. Supposedly 40% of Western Europe was wiped out. Pretty awesome (not in a good way). The plague hasn't actually dissapeared, its still knocking about and rears its ugly head occasionally, although it's ussually quite limited in numbers and localised. It can be treated with antibiotics, but even still the mortality rate hovers about 10% I think.
Basically if a reasonable percentage people can fight off the virus naturally then you're in a pretty good place. Because "all" you have to do is locate those anti bodies and essentially create enough of a trigger to enable them to be produced in the wider population. You have enough people to track what thier immune system is doing at every stage of the process.
If there was a virus where there were no known human survivors (or only very few) then you're basically s
t out of luck, because you don't know what you're looking for, which means you don't know what trigger will set off your immune system in the right way to create something that we don't know if it may or may not fight the virus. Like firing an arrow into the sky, blind folded, hoping to shoot down a bird that you don't even know exists.The plague was very different because that's not a virus, it's a bacterial infection. Supposedly 40% of Western Europe was wiped out. Pretty awesome (not in a good way). The plague hasn't actually dissapeared, its still knocking about and rears its ugly head occasionally, although it's ussually quite limited in numbers and localised. It can be treated with antibiotics, but even still the mortality rate hovers about 10% I think.
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