Surprise, surprise. The Year Zero idea that we can end a pandemic through vaccination - which has never happened before - has feet of sand. Every other respiratory pandemic has ended through exposure, natural immunity and evolution to less fatal strains. https://blogs.bmj.com/bmj/2021/01/04/peter-doshi-pfizer-and-modernas-95-effective-vaccines-we-need-more-details-and-the-raw-data/

I say Year Zero because the singular feature of the reaction to this pandemic has been the refutation of all prev experience of how pandemics develop & how they are addressed; & all previous pandemic planning, right up to October 2019, as I set out below: https://twitter.com/francis_hoar/status/1329380025427243019?s=21

That is not to say that vaccines might not have a part to play. They might. But the fact that vaccines take years to develop is not merely due to the need to test them adequately for adverse reactions. It is because of the need to test their effectiveness.

And all previous planning recognised the sheer insanity of attempting to pause society’s functioning while waiting for such uncertainty; and recognised the indescribable destruction that that would cause. As, of course, it has.

And for a new illustration of those harms, see below:
(HT @LucyGoBag) https://torontosun.com/opinion/columnists/canadian-experts-research-finds-lockdown-harms-are-10-times-greater-than-benefits

This humility is so incredibly rare and so refreshing. The reaction to any one pandemic should never only consider the effect of those policies on the pandemic. As with every other policy decision, it is a question of how any potential advantages are balanced against likely harms

Whereas this guy thinks a flu vaccine ended the Hong Kong and Asian Flu epidemics. The idiocy is different to comprehend.
https://twitter.com/andrejo89945597/status/1348204281267179523?s=21 https://twitter.com/AndreJo89945597/status/1348204281267179523

Yes. But it isn’t something to be invested in as the end to the pandemic. And it cannot ever justify restrictions that might - perhaps - end when it is developed.

https://twitter.com/godfrey28482926/status/1348203881197613056?s=21 https://twitter.com/godfrey28482926/status/1348203881197613056