Thread by @jonkay

hard-core lockdown skeptics share blame for the omicron overreaction. In 2020, many claimed covid was "just like the flu," a deadly delusion. Now comes omicron, which truly is flu-like for vax/boosted. But "just like the flu" has become a tainted phrase: boy-cried-wolf in reverse

I'm no fan of the fearmongering from the Star & other outlets, which reflexively equate lockdown severity with moral virtue & wisdom. But they wouldn't get away with this posture if the other side hadn't made false & deadly claims about herd immunity etc. in the pre-omicron era

by the way, "flu-like" doesn't mean "non deadly." Influenza was killing something like 30K Americans/year before covid showed up. Estimates vary, but Cdn death toll from flu has historically been about a 10th of that, or about 10/day. Unvaxxed omicron #'s aren't far from that...

the qu health officials will wrestle with in coming months (barring a new variant emerging, in which case all bets are off) is whether to maintain the whole apparatus of closures, quarantines, etc for what becomes (for vax/boosted) a highly contagious variation on seasonal flu

Right now, the main justification for lockdowns is that omicron remains a deadly threat to the unvaccinated. And there's truth in this. And so there's a bizarre codependency between Star-style apocalypticists & anti-vaxxers. Let's get jabbed and get this thing over with

BTW, I now have uncountable friends & contacts who have gotten omicron. No serious cases because all vaxxed (& most boosted). This includes people who have been super careful (and who even express shame for getting it, which I find superweird). We are ALL going to get omicron...

This is not something I would have ever said during delta or pre-delta "Covid Classic," but there's part of me that just wants to get this over with & get my inevitable omicron infection. I'm not going to do that bcuz I'm Canadian and I follow the rules. But it's crossed my mind

This is a digression, but during the early days of the pandemic, I'd joke that I was going to promote herd immunity by holding a pangolin sushi party/karaoke contest/GOP fundraiser on a cruise ship. Then it turned out pangolins were innocent...& bats aren't as funny as pangolins