# Controversial Topic: Why doesn't Covid feel like a "pandemic" as of recent? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Quarantine Zone\ **Tags:** covid-quarantine\ **Created:** [June 12, 2022, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-topic-why-doesnt-covid-feel-like-a-pandemic-as-of-recent/966062 "2022-06-12T04:07:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2022, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-topic-why-doesnt-covid-feel-like-a-pandemic-as-of-recent/966062/21 "2022-06-28T00:11:01Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > And the definition of an “epidemic” isn’t just that it’s spreading “rapidly”. It’s that it’s spreading exponentially. Which covid hasn’t done since February or so. So it’s not an epidemic any more. SARS-CoV-2 is very much still an epidemic and the BA.4 and BA.5 variants are spreading around the world, displacing previous ‘Omicron’ variants that previously displaced ‘Alpha’ and ‘Delta’ variants. In the United States, it is true that the [7 day running average on deaths attributed to COVID-19](https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#trends_dailydeaths) since July 2021 but notice that we’ve had two major peaks between then and now corresponding to the B.1.617.2 (‘Delta’), and B.1.1.529 (‘Omicron Prime’) variants. The fewer number of deaths during those spikes despite the increased transmissibility can be largely attributed to inoculation from vaccines and exposure to prior variants providing some immunogenicity sufficient to protect most people from severe morbidity and mortality but the newer variants are showing increased immune escape with many people reporting repeated reinfection. Of course, around the world in countries where vaccine availability and/or uptake has not been as good as in the United States and Western Europe, there have been massive outbreaks with a much larger proportion of case fatality rates among naive populations (e.g. China). There remains the likelihood (to near certainty) of additional variants that could have even greater immune escape or more virulence. There is no reason to think that this cannot happen; the closely related SARS-CoV(-1) , responsible for the 2002-04 SARS outbreak had a case fatality rate of ~11%, and MERS-CoV (more distant but still in the lineage of _Betacoronavirus_) has a mortality rate of ~34% (fortunately not very transmissible from person-to-person). Even a SARS-CoV-2 variant with 1% CFR would rapidly eclipse the current deaths from COVID-19. This isn’t a reason to keep everything shut down because this virus is never going to stop circulating and mutating (hopefully it will eventually transform into a benign ‘common cold’ providing immunogenicity against more virulent but less transmissible variants) but it is a reason to maintain epidemiological surveillance. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2022, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-topic-why-doesnt-covid-feel-like-a-pandemic-as-of-recent/966062/22 "2022-06-28T00:16:16Z")
> [@sta3535](#): > > I’ve also noticed that most people seem to be more understanding about personal decisions/concerns about Covid vaccines, or that people don’t talk about it as much anymore, in my experience. People understand just fine being concerned about not vaccinating. That’s why people with any understanding have all been vaccinated. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2022, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-topic-why-doesnt-covid-feel-like-a-pandemic-as-of-recent/966062/23 "2022-06-28T01:39:55Z")
Yeah. Said another way, it’s pointless to argue with a moron. It’s just that most of the rest of us have finally realized that and are no longer wasting our breath. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2022, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-topic-why-doesnt-covid-feel-like-a-pandemic-as-of-recent/966062/24 "2022-06-28T16:54:19Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Now the COVID-24 strain that will break out in the wreckage of Ukraine will be a different matter. That’s the variant that’ll recreate the 14th Century’s Black Plague of Europe and kill half of humanity. Please label spoilers for future seasons of the show, even if they are in the books. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-topic-why-doesnt-covid-feel-like-a-pandemic-as-of-recent/966062.md?page=1)