Coronavirus week 92: When do we get to endemic? What's that mean? And, why won't Fauci and Walensky listen to Tufekci?

Wired has a good story about that issue, starting with the fact that there's no epidemiological definition of what "endemic" means. It notes that it can take years before an infection truly becomes endemic, and that, even being endemic, today's common flu can still kill as many as 50,000 Americans a year. My off the top of my head guess is that spring, generally avoiding running heaters or AC too much, will give a semi-endemic break. Summer? Depends on whether something Delta-like emerges or not. If we get through summer OK, we'll get past fall. After that, winter 2022-23? We may be at endemic then, but still with a higher death rate than "just the flu," perhaps twice as high.

The AP has a related article, mainly about how severe, on average, COVID will be when we at least start to enter endemic territory.

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Zeynep Tufekci continues to show why she's go-to on COVID issues with her latest, which also links to her most recent NYT column. Two key points:

1. Omicron is less infectious in the lower lungs than other variants, a biggie;
2. She totally calls out Rochelle Walensky, private sector medical expert from 2020, vs. Walensky, the Biden Admin CDC head (and St. Anthony of Fauci with her). Why? Over dissing antigen tests. 
3. She calls out both for, in various ways now, almost two years of trying to outpsyche the public.

Bottom line? This.

Treat the public like adults and partners, and work to empower them—even if some portion isn’t listening to the advice, or even if some are actively hostile. Seems straightforward enough, and yet we still struggle with it. 

If anything, the existence of that hostile portion makes it even more important to empower and respect those of us looking to public health authorities for guidance, tools and infrastructure.

And, that's so true.

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Other COVID news for the week:

Strangeabbott has joined the fray of wingnut governors' lawsuits against Status Quo Joe's vaccine mandate for military personnel, which includes National Guardsmen. Problem? As Team Biden has noted, the feds already require nine other vaccinations of Guard members, so Biden, Kevin Stitt, Kristi Noem and whoever else are suing appear to be up a creek without a legal paddle, and also, just plain pandering. Indeed, last month, a federal judge ruling against Stitt noted just that. Both R.F. O'Rourke and West/Huffines, from different sides, are attacking Strangeabbott. 

That's even as Omicron hospitalizations are likely to set a new record.

Are COVID long-haulers being ripped off by medical scammers? Very arguably yes.

Steve Vladeck observes that the vaccine mandate cases before SCOTUS are really about the future power of federal administrative agencies to regulate anything.