Principally, sure.

My family is multiply immune compromised with poor vaccine response, problematic vaccine reactions, and at elevated threat for post-COVID issues (together with acute and everlasting flare up of pre-existing circumstances). The poor outcomes I see in individuals with the identical diagnoses aren’t captured typically statistics on COVID-19 outcomes. So I really feel like my head is in an analogous identical place because it has been. A number of the individuals who had been most vulnerable to lengthy hospitalizations and horrific ICU deaths already died, however the virus isn’t simply secure to catch now for individuals who can’t depend on vaccines to stop poor outcomes.

Transmission is basically excessive proper now with a brand new circulating pandemic variant and one other one in all probability on the best way for this winter (by wastewater estimates, which traditionally tracked fairly effectively with case information, greater than 1 in 40 individuals within the USA is presently contaminated). WHO acknowledges the pandemic as current tense; so far as I do know, it’s solely talked about as previous tense in political contexts?

I’ll say that even for wholesome individuals, I’ve not seen proof to help the concept COVID-19 has comparable ramifications to the flu for any threat cohort. Apart from all the opposite variations between the viruses, one bout of the flu sometimes confers immunity that lasts 5 years or so, so individuals simply don’t catch it as typically over the course of their lifespan. Extra individuals find yourself with new power circumstances after COVID than after flu. Extra individuals find yourself with dysregulated immunity and for longer; extra individuals expertise a brand new power sickness, organ injury, or a cardiac occasion publish an infection. Simply counting lengthy COVID syndrome and never different issues, the bottom latest estimate for lengthy COVID following an an infection is round 3%.

My neighborhood continues to undergo from absences and closures throughout these massive waves as a result of some persons are simply too symptomatic to work sick. COVID-19 is a bit of uncommon in that the best way it undermines immune perform invitations coinfections, so winter waves are particularly tough with individuals getting one an infection after one other (not simply COVID) and typically greater than one by one.

Even earlier than there was ever a vaccine, many individuals made the remark {that a} majority of sufferers skilled the virus as only a chilly and made the argument that it was fantastic to dwell life as normal. Many individuals did ignore it from the beginning and accepted the dangers to themselves or others.

When the vaccine got here out, the promise was that it will cut back transmission sufficient that individuals wouldn’t must masks or isolate (and most public indoor areas wouldn’t want to satisfy increased air flow or filtration requirements for the air) with a view to curb transmission, forestall new variants from arising, and defend immune compromised individuals in the neighborhood. However as individuals dropped suppression measures, the virus rapidly evaded immunity to the purpose that there have been absolutely vaccinated tremendous spreader occasions. Extra individuals have died since then than died earlier than. However vaccinated individuals who had been low threat to start with had been statistically even decrease threat as soon as vaccinated, and once more the acute signs had been all the time chilly like for a majority of sufferers, in order that they determined to simply accept the dangers that others had already accepted.

All trigger mortality has continued to spike after each wave for so long as we’ve tracked it. Vaccinated individuals fared higher than unvaccinated within the stats, however the one demographic whose mortality wasn’t elevated above pre-pandemic norms had been individuals who hadn’t had COVID in any respect.

I respect that individuals get to decide on their very own dangers to absorb life, how a lot time they need to spend underneath the climate, and what odds they discover acceptable for what outcomes; persons are in all types of various conditions.