[bopbeepboop]

You’re missing two key points:

1. COVID was always going to become endemic to humans.

2. Young people are part of society — and you’re blatantly disregarding harm to them in your appeal to the “health of my society”.

[dqv]

You talk about young people as if in their own world able to act autonomously away from the rest of society. Young people have parents. And they frequently rely on them into their mid-twenties. Many young people lost one or both of their parents from this (and other people they loved dearly). As has been repeated elsewhere, dying isn’t the only thing their parents and loved ones have to worry about having had COVID. The purpose of the lockdowns was to try to prevent this.

And so I can ask the same question, why are you disregarding the harm done to them (them being the young people)?

[kd913]

We have vaccines now, we aren't in the same situation as the beginning of the pandemic.

The purpose of the lockdown wasn't to prevent deaths, it was to prevent the hospital systems collapsing.

[Graffur]

Your first point makes no sense. The logic follows that we should have let the original and more deadly variants rip through society?

Young people are part of society so they are obligated to protect it.

[bart_spoon]

The only reason we locked down initially was to "flatten the curve". This doesn't mean eliminate the virus, it meant slow it down long enough for the hospital system and government agencies to catch up in preparation. But even then, it was understood that this virus was going to be endemic and that elimination was never a possibility.

> Young people are part of society so they are obligated to protect it.

The point is that the part of society being protected is largely confined to older parts of the population, while much of the costs of doing so are disproportionately coming down on younger people. It's easy to say "do your part to protect society", but when the part of society being protected is the mental, social, and emotional development and well being of young people, as well as technical skills and future job prospects, older people seemingly have no problem casting it aside for what benefits them the most.

[ars]

> The logic follows that we should have let the original and more deadly variants rip through society?

I participate in two communities - one that completely ignores COVID (except for a couple months at the very very beginning). They don't test, they don't care if someone is positive. Lots of people are vaccinated, but lots aren't (they all had COVID, they can't think of any reason to get vaccinated since they already are immnune).

And another one that is freaked out about COVID, mask wearing, vaccine or you are excluded from everything, social distancing, keep everything closed.

Somehow the longterm death rate is the same in both - except for those first few months. But the mental health in the open community is far better.

It's over. COVID is over. It's time to stop closing everything. Take the vaccine (or don't if that's the risk you chose to take), and stop this meaningless theater.