#I just want people not being devastated by constant viral infections

[flaskoflethe]

m-pox is currently showing a more virulent strain in the DRC currently, with the clade showing a much higher fatality rate. There's the upcoming COVID strain XEC, which shows significant immune evasion compared to the strains targeted by the newest vaccines (get them anyway, though! Novavax probably is slightly better, but hasn't had the latest update approved by the FDA yet. Use every tool to keep yourself safe!). There's H5N1 which is spreading almost totally unmonitored. It's being found in milk and dairy products, and eggs. There's also Nipah virus in Kerala India. To say nothing of whooping cough, rsv, other (non bird) flu strains, measles making a come back...

Please wear masks. Push your elected officials to take public health seriously. Stay safe, COVID infections cause an acquired immunodeficiency syndrome.

One of my big worries is that another pandemic will come along in the next few years. COVID isn’t over and it seems like almost everyone has given up on caring about it—but how will that play out for us if another virus spreads across the globe?

Mask bans, the end of social distancing and the stigma that has come with it, makes me incredibly concerned that the next pandemic will be substantially worse. I don’t think the majority of people will want another lockdown, no matter how necessary it may be…

Which means whatever pandemic comes next is going to be substantially worse in every way.