One minimization tactic people keep using is "Well, flu also causes long flu ..." (with an implied 'so long COVID is nothing special and there's no need for precautions.')

Yeah, well, the thing about that is that you used to not get the flu all that often. Maybe once every few years, and often less than that. But COVID? You get it once a year, if you're lucky, and more than that if you're unlucky.
And because of the endless plague loop, in that same year, you now also get the flu, random colds, RSV, norovirus, and all kinds of other diseases like it's a daily lunch special that's on rotation.
That's a lot of bullets you're playing Russian roulette with.

Many of those diseases probably have a chance of leaving a lasting effect on your body, but then there's also the strain from your body fighting off acute sickness all the time. There's no way that that doesn't add wear and tear to your body (i.e. shorten your lifespan), and it increases the chance of something seriously breaking.

So yeah. Keep minimizing and denying. Keep FAFOing and see where that leads in 10 years. Ironically, this is like what anti-vaxxers claim, except viruses doing tangible damage to your body is not a hoax.
I noticed my post shares some points with the other one here; by the time regret shows up, it's too late.

Consequences should be the best teacher but what we are seeing is how many will be harmed for good with Measles and other preventable diseases because this is ideological, MAGAs are perfectly happy to sacrifice their children and their own lives to serve their orange god.

And in this case these are permanent consequences, this is not like losing money at the racetrack or slacking off and missing a deadline, this is life and death and once you are maimed or dead you can't fix it.

I am reminded of this quote from covid: “One of the last things they do before they’re intubated is beg me for the vaccine. I hold their hand and tell them that I’m sorry, but it’s too late.”

Heres the article:

https://www.al.com/news/2021/07/im-sorry-but-its-too-late-alabama-doctor-on-treating-unvaccinated-dying-covid-patients.html

I used to be a secular humanist.

I miss being able to say "we've learned from our mistakes".

I'm just tired man. The raw stupidity of people I know personally that always followed science and reason...,

US CDC ends guidance that all newborns should get hepatitis B vaccine, in major policy shift

•The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday ended a long-standing recommendation that all U.S. newborns receive the hepatitis B vaccine, leaving it instead to parents, in consultation with a healthcare provider, to decide whether infants born to hepatitis B-negative mothers should get the vaccine, including the birth dose.

Another Republican-caused disease to come

Fem van Empel puts her cycling career on hold — Dutch world champion quits her sport after struggling throughout the year.

There's no mention of COVID but this is a sport that appears to be plagued by disease, and news pops up quite often of athletes having to take breaks, or dropping out of races due to it.
A Dutch article mentions that one of the reasons she's stopping is because of the lingering effects of illness.

Note that she's in her early 20s and a world-class athlete; apparently she's the current best rider in her competition, having won the world championship the last three times.
There are several articles of her dropping out of multiple races due to not being able to perform, or underperforming: example 1, example 2.

She is literally the antithesis of what people think 'old and vulnerable' to be, and if even such people have to pause or quit that early in their career, what hope do normies have?
COVID or not, ubiquitous illness is a threat to us all.