How Endemic COVID Becomes a Manageable Risk - The Atlantic

I have been saying for a while that COVID is here for good. The pandemic engagement isn't though, and integrating COVID into our future world may change some practices. I found Gottlieb's article a pragmatic perspective.

But while the other four coronaviruses typically cause little more than the common cold, SARS-CoV-2 is likely to remain a more serious threat even after this pandemic wanes, even after the virus becomes primarily a seasonal pathogen, even after drugs and vaccination limit the damage it does. The virus will become a persistent menace at least on par with the yearly flu—a threat that, though seemingly routine, strains health-care systems, businesses, and schools every winter. With SARS-CoV-2 mingling alongside influenza—and causing a comparable level of death and disease—the harm to public health and economic productivity will be too great for society to simply shrug off. The dual viral threat will compel better defenses. We won’t have a choice.

Fundamentally I read his perspective one of being aware and adaptive. I’m a bit embarrassed to admit but before COVID I don't think I ever got a seasonal flu shot. My brain hadn't fully embraced the logic behind it, but the pandemic experience has taught me a lesson. I will be getting it going forward. In short, we will need to be more adaptive and frankly aware of these viruses and manage them to the extent possible.