So far, documented COVID-19 variants are in the U.K., Brazil, South Africa, and Northern California, and I am sure there are others in India and China.  So COVID-19 is behaving much like the flu with mutations to new forms going on all the time.

Influenza or flu types A and B cause yearly epidemics, and there are over 60 kinds of known flu viruses.  Type A and B undergo seasonal changes almost every year.  To vaccinate yourself against the flu every year is a waste of time for most since there are just too many mutations, which change every year, and the flu is not deadly for most.

Similarly, to vaccinate yourself against COVID-19 is a waste of time for most because within a year, there are more than a handful of new variants that must be vaccinated against.  Yes, COVID-19 is deadlier for some elderly and others with compromised immune systems, but for the rest of us, it is a fact of life that we can live with, without severe consequences, especially for children.

Can vaccines stop variants?  This question is only partially answered in this April 9 publication.  Pfizer has already stated that after a year, you may have to be revaccinated since its vaccine may be ineffective a year from now.  So Pfizer is already preparing the public for the letdown of no permanent cure for the COVID-19 flu.  What do we do if we don't want to live in perpetual fear of a hypothetical death from COVID-19 and its variants?  Treat COVID-19 like the flu and hope for the best unless you are elderly with a compromised immune system!

Twenty twenty was a panicky seat-of-the-pants treatment of the COVID-19 spread with a fear that many children would die, business-killing lockdowns, and unreasonable standards for distancing and mask-wearing that advocated such absurdities as wearing two masks instead of one.  It makes sense that with a mask, the six-foot distancing rule can be reduced to three feet or less, so the phony "science"-based rule was debunked.  It is still debatable whether hand and surface sanitizers are worth the effort to reduce cases of infection other than in health care facilities and hospitals.

Thank goodness the initial panic and absurd measures taken are now mostly things of the past and that we can all move on and just live with the fact that COVID-19 is just a slightly deadlier more infectious disease than the flu.  It will take a long time before all the believable facts and many myths about COVID-19 are scientifically researched and proven true or false. Until then, don't live in paranoia, and try to live a normal life.

Image via Pxfuel.

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