...and? We've deemed it far more cost-effective to vaccinate the population against the new flu variants that continually emerge. Our strategy changes when we have no vaccine, and the disease is particularly virulent.
> there's the common cold sloshing around on top of that
ditto with flu. Common cold is an annoyance, not a disease that we must eradicate. The cost to do so would be astronomical compared to the benefit.
Meanwhile, how many people do you know suffering from TB?
Skepticism is one thing; ignorance is an entirely different animal altogether. One challenge facing us is a populace poorly educated in science is increasingly unable to differentiate between the two.
If we had a $1 pill you could take that innoculated you against the common cold, it would be cheap and worthwhile to eradicate. These things are expensive exactly because we have poor tools to deal with them.
TB on the other hand mostly went away because we developed a working vaccine.
> Skepticism is one thing; ignorance is an entirely different animal altogether. One challenge facing us is a populace poorly educated in science is increasingly unable to differentiate between the two.
The solution to poor scientific understanding is not to bully people into beleiving in science as an article of faith, but to fix the scientific education so that's not necessary.
> If we had a $1 pill you could take that innoculated you against the common cold, it would be cheap and worthwhile to eradicate.
That's looking at the wrong side of the equation and is tantamount to wishful thinking. The correct side of the equation is looking at the billions and billions of dollars you would have to spend developing that $1 pill. That is the actual cost to achieve. There are better things to do with our time and money.
If our hypothetical $1 common cold pill turns out anything like our COVID pill, it will only be effective for a few months before making you marginally more susceptible than you were before.
...and? We've deemed it far more cost-effective to vaccinate the population against the new flu variants that continually emerge. Our strategy changes when we have no vaccine, and the disease is particularly virulent.
> there's the common cold sloshing around on top of that
ditto with flu. Common cold is an annoyance, not a disease that we must eradicate. The cost to do so would be astronomical compared to the benefit.
Meanwhile, how many people do you know suffering from TB?
Skepticism is one thing; ignorance is an entirely different animal altogether. One challenge facing us is a populace poorly educated in science is increasingly unable to differentiate between the two.