Thread by @PeteUK7

On recent dog walk, got chatting to a lady I'd met a few times:
Her: Are you holidaying abroad this year
Me: I can't because of Covid & immunosuppressed family members
Her: But Covid is over now
Me: 1 in 45 people are infected & 1,000 ppl a week dying
Her: Not now though
1/

Me: Yes, those are recent numbers
Her: But you never hear about it anymore
Me: Yes because they'd sooner you ignored it
Her: It doesn't affect vaccinated people
Me: Well it does and you can still get bad outcomes & LC
Her: Well it's mild now and it'll soon be over
2/

Me: The 1,000 ppl dying every week are not finding it mild
Her: But they probably had something else and didn't die from it
Me: Yes, they'd like you to think that
Her: Well we've all had it anyway and so we're not worried
Me: But you can get it over and over again
3/

Her: But I was fine anyway. Had no symptoms at all so I'm not worried
Me: But asymptomatic infection doesn't mean it hasn't harmed you or weakened your immune system. It doesn't mean it will be asymptomatic with a subsequent infection
Her: But catching it again is rare
4/

Me: It's not rare. It's commonplace. Immunity is transient & lasting immunity is impossible
Her: Well the boosters will help
Me: So when's your next one planned
LONG PAUSE
Her: I haven't heard about getting another booster
Me: So how will you stay protected as this progresses
5/

Her: Well this will be the last wave. Omicron was a blessing
Me: There are already new variants that are expected to cause another wave
Her: But they just get milder until it's gone
Me: Where do you get your news from
Her: BBC and the Mail
Me: I see.
6/

Her: Well there's not much we can do about it. It's like getting a regular cold & we got those every year
Me: It's very different from a regular cold & there is plenty we could be doing about it
Her: Well we can't just keep everyone locked up
I explained clean air approaches.
7/

The propaganda has done a fine job in making people believe this is all over. It's clear that what I said was news to her & that she kind of only half believed me.
She & her family feel like there is no risk whatsoever. I can't change that no matter what I say.
8/

Many people seem to think that vaccines have solved the problem & any other kind of measure is a lockdown.
It's clear that the message about ventilation, measuring CO₂, high levels of air filtration, overhead GUV & FarUV have not yet reached everyone.
I'll keep trying.
9/END