Well, not the get sick and die part. But I think there’s been changes to society, changes that are beneficial in the long term:
WFH; finally companies realize that employees can work from home.
cost savings for companies due to reduced office space
cost savings for employees.
reduced transportation and all the environmental problems that helps with.
increased reliance on non-face to face and the internet. You don’t need to ‘see’ someone in person for a ton of the stuff that used to require it.
masks/sanitation. Hard to believe I used to go to work and be breathed on all day by random people. Perhaps there’ll be future decreases in illnesses due to people being a bit more vigilant, i.e. staying home from work when sick.
I also think we may be on the verge of a golden age of vaccines. Two new technologies have come to market. The mRNA vaccines are brand new. And the modified adenovirus vaccines (J&J, AZ) were barely developed. I believe the Ebola vaccine was the only vaccine to use it.
There was already a lot of work being done – that’s why we got so many vaccines so quickly. But an enormous amount of money has been pumped into them, along with massive testing. I’m really hopeful we might see a human malaria vaccine, a universal flu vaccine, a Zika vaccine, a human Lyme vaccine… all come to market in a few years.
I think the WFH issue was a lot more based on the culture of “remote working” and how to incorporate the virtual attendees appropriately.
COVID forced companies to invest in the infrastructure–and to USE it–to allow for appropriate integration of virtual attendees. Furthermore, everybody was forced to participate virtually, so greater awareness of how to do it appropriate was developed on a very large scale.
I feel like this was already the case pre-covid…in my experience. At least amongst the younger generation (I call myself young but I’m in my 30s). Like people would WFH if they had a hangover and such. They wouldn’t tell their boss of course, but we all know what’s up. Sometimes even the boss is in on it if the boss was an ex-friend, which is common.
I think a lot of people are realizing this actually. That they haven’t gotten sick at all in the past year or so, which is extremely rare for most of us (most people get sick at least once a year).
reduced office space - I’m not sure if that’s a win for society - you must not work in commercial real estate or a supporting industry - it’s true that many companies will have reduced expenses which is a win for society, but some companies will lose revenues which isn’t a win for society.
cost savings for employees - win for society - more disposable income
reduced transportation and environmental problems - win for society
increased reliance on non face-to-face contact. I’m not sure what situations you are thinking about with this point. What used to require face to face contact, but post-pandemic no longer does?
masks - I don’t see increased mask usage as a win for society. Improved sanitation - that’s a win for society. Please wash your hands and don’t come near me if you’re sick…
increased minimum level wages - I’m not sure how that is a win for society, if the level was too low, market pressure would have increased the wage.
It’s now legal for me to see a doctor over zoom, or talk to a doctor over the phone, and be prescribed treatment. That’s a win. Yes, there are some things where it’s better for the doctor to actually see you, but you know what, quite a lot can be diagnosed without a face-to-face, and there’s a LOT of cost savings (in your time) to being able to see a doctor without going to the doctor’s office when it’s NOT needed.
There are a bunch of other things we’ve learned to do remotely, with cost savings. Some of my hobbies now have remote options and I’m actually seeing more of some European and Canadian friends then I did in non-pandemic years.
I definitely see the normalization of mask-wearing as a win for society. I hope it sticks this time. I don’t want to wear a mask all the time, and I don’t want everyone else to do that, either. But I hope that a lot more people will wear masks a lot more often going forward.
Maybe I’m just weird, but I’ve always been more squicked out by people coughing on me than by shaking hands, or touching the bathroom door. I don’t really even like people breathing on me.
The level is too low now, and a lot of companies are whinging about the unfairness of it rather than raising wages.
I had a UTI the day before thanksgiving, was able to get diagnosed before I even got out of bed in the morning. That was a huge perk. UTI’s in women who have had a few already really don’t need to be diagnosed in person.
Telemedicine was a thing before the pandemic but it’s really evolved.
My company is not embracing a WFH attitude for people who work in many geographical areas (while shuttering entire offices and forcing everyone to be WFH in others). They’re going to be slow adopters there, but they’ll have to adapt eventually I think.
My company has a ton of corporate real estate. They’re protected from substantial losses for now thanks to leases but that will change.
I haven’t enjoyed WFH at all. I want to be back in the office full time. That said, I appreciate the flexibility of WFH. I just don’t want to do it any more than necessary.
Overall this pandemic has sucked for me. I didn’t expect to feel that way, as a really hermity curmudgeon. I guess I really needs kids on my lawn to yell at to be happy.