it's mild, they said, page-222

prevention is far less costly than treatment, and far more effective.

I do think that influenza should be encouraged...... influenza, as many have pointed out, can be fatal and economists and health analysts have being reporting on the cost to the economy and health care of influenza for decades.

but I wouldn't recommend mandate for influenza, its nowhere near the danger to the population and economy that covid is.

right now now have omicron variant. its said to be less harmful.... but this is just the omicron variant. we aren't finished with this bug yet and other variants are forming (check out WHO Variants of Concern)..... the next variant to gain ascendancy may be more virulent - we don't know yet what is to come.

this is normal virus behaviour to modify when in direct contact, during replication, with host DNA. The original SARS mutated fairly quickly to become benign (two years) and SARS-COV-2 may go the same way (I hope) but there's no certainty.

viruses only need a host to replicate to survive. what happens after they have spread to others (current global Reff is 1.5) is of no concern to the virus so it has no 'desire' to become benign. we'll just have to watch and wait.

finally to children; children can transfer the virus to elders without showing any symptoms. If the vaccine can prevent reproduction, and this should be the main target of the vaccines, then children should be vaccinated. Only imo....

I would now raise another important issue with "Diseases will come. How prepared are we? Isolation centres, Hospital capabilities? Staffing?"....

Preparedness is most important. the Labor initiated review of pandemic preparation was ignored by successive Lib Govts and preparations were not made.

• We need to increase the health related university and hospital budgets.
• training new doctors and nurses have been downgraded over recent years, more prepared specialist diagnostic, tracing and treatment facilities need to be built and expanded.
• Quarantine centres need to be built in every state as the hotel quarantine system has failed too many times.

and much more.... we don't know when another virus will make the leap to become a human problem.