So what happens over there when one of these jerks karks it? Is there an election like over here when we’ve got a dead MP?
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Yeah, I know, just a joke 
these people piss me off to no end, they’re causing all sorts of problems that they don’t even think about.
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Depends on the state. The latest winner of the stupid prize was a senator at the state level. According to Ballotpedia
“the board of county commissioners where the vacant seat is located has the responsibility to select a replacement. The state central committee of the political party that last held the seat must submit a list of three candidates to the board of county commissioners representing the vacant district. A selection must be made within 60 days after the vacancy occurred. The person appointed will hold the seat until his or her successor is elected at the next general or special election in November.”
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This.
If it was a Congressional seat, a replacement would be appointed by the governor until the next general election.
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That’s not of great comfort when that’s demonstrably not happening here.
Yes. Also: animal reservoirs of the virus. There’s some (controversial) evidence Omicron came about in rodents, after being infected by humans. Deer in the US seem to be widely infected with covid. Apparently some anti-viral drugs work by deliberately creating viral mutations (again, some controversial evidence that omicron came about this way). Etc. There are a lot of ways new variants are going to pop up, and vaccine refusal certainly isn’t even the major one - but it’s a completely avoidable one.
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Still far too early to say that. We’ve seen studies say both things about omicron, that it’s far less dangerous… and that it’s slightly less dangerous … than Delta.
Again, this happens on a longer time scale covering years of endemic disease. We’re not even to year two yet.
there’s some indication from south africa that it’s somewhat less harmful per case, possibly because their population is younger on average.
even if that proves true, the sheer number of simultaneous cases could easily overwhelm hospitals if people don’t take additional action
im not quite surehow to read that. do you mean simply: there are more non-deadly diseases than deadly ones?
im not sure that’s really the case. most diseases are pretty deadly without treatment, we just have good treatment options at this point. antibiotics ( i know, not viral ) seem trivial now, but they’re near miraculous
oto, one modern confounding factor is ease of travel. disease has the ability move as quickly as we do, and covid proves we move pretty fast ( who knew the kevin bacon game was so deadly )
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Overall, yes. There are thousands of viruses floating around that at one time were very harmful and now just kind of are residents.
Good. He asked for medical treatment to be sent to him after encouraging dangerous behavior and decrying government efforts to protect citizens from disease? He couldn’t have died soon enough.
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Or, you know, it doesn’t - it kills off all the carriers. It’s pure survivor bias at play here. A less lethal strain appears with endemic contagions because the alternative is there’s no population for it to spread in - and that happens, too. Whole populations have been completely wiped out by viruses in the past. It’s happening with a number of species of organisms today. A virus doesn’t have to weaken. There’s no “weak Ebola,” no “childhood HIV” no “party polio,” er… or whatever. Flu was around for a very long time with mild strains before the Spanish Flu showed up - and another similarly (or more) lethal strain could show up again any time. With covid, what we’re experiencing right now is the weak form. Its endemic nature just means we’ll be caught off guard when a more deadly variant emerges. (At this point omicron may be less lethal - but it also may end up killing more people just by dint of it being a hell of a lot more contagious.)
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when you look at the non-human animals and insects – we see a continuous dance of predator and prey adaptions. it’s non linear and non directional. there’s no guarantee wolves are going to get less dangerous with time, or bee stings less allergic.
the most arguable virus (variant) that does go extinct on the regular is the flu – they think the 1918 and swine flu are probably gone for good – but it’s that exact variability that also makes it evade our vaccines every year, and it could just as easily come back as something significantly worse someday ( just like the 1918 flu itself popped up from “nowhere”. )
a more recent example is sars – but that was an example of human “adaptation” not the virus. people got badly ill before becoming significantly infectious – so people were able to isolate and care for the infected, which provided containment. ( as opposed to covid, where many people feel fine while contagious, and only get strong symptoms after spreading it on. )
we could “adapt” to covid – really we already are. vaccines, masking, and social distancing being the best “adaptions”. and like you say, more of the world needs access to the vaccines. but i don’t know of any reason covid will get less deadly on its own.
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Haha, anti-vaxxer dies from Covid. That’s so ironic…no…oh wait, what’s the opposite of ironic?
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If Omicron is significantly less harmful, isn’t the fact that it’s more contagious, a net positive…
That is, if(and it’s an important if) the peak doesn’t swamp healthcare systems; having a less harmful variant that outcompetes the more harmful ones is a good thing.
Has anyone read epidemiologists saying this?
Good thing that he was wearing a mask the whole flight, right? 
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Nope, nope, nope. The opposite, in fact.
There was a sub thread about it in the Coronavirus Thread:
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And Omicron being significantly less harmful, is in considerable doubt.
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I hope he had the good sense to die at home and not waste hospital space better used for people who aren’t morons.
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