Originally Posted by crystalworks

All of those reasons above might be a few reasons the world needs a pandemic. A reminder about how things come and go a few times a generation that we aren't necessarily prepared for. Ever. This one will pass, nothing will change, and we'll be having this discussion again in 20-30 years. Hopefully a Democrat is in office so the Republican voters can have their turn blaming the opposing administration.

People dying from natural causes, or phenomena doesn't bother me in the way it does some. I'm not of the mind we can save all people all of the time. As Andrew has put it, in no uncertain terms, we are not seeing deaths on a level beyond what we might see from the flu. And that's with most deaths being attributed to CV19. For varying reasons, the numbers being collected are wildly inaccurate (including attributing flu deaths to CV19).

We are not in a black plague-like situation, and talking about it like we are is not going to help the situation. Obviously, I don't wish anyone's grandparent, parent, or themselves to die. OBVIOUSLY. But, if elderly people are always more susceptible to the flu, and we don't freak out that the majority of flu deaths every year are in that population, why are we doing so now? Just like every flu season, the elderly need to be cautious, hygienic, and get the flu vaccine. The rest of us can wear masks, wash hands, etc to help the situation and protect them as much as possible.

Andrew. Even at only 30% effective for the flu vaccine, that's a large statistic. Yes, sometimes it's ineffective because the wrong strain is targeted, but the statistics still show it's better for the public (especially elderly and young children) to get the shot over time.