Whatever the risk of COVID is now and going forward the public at large will not accept a longterm mandate of masking, social distancing, and no large gatherings. That type of life is too much against the human need for social contact, free movement, and economic purpose.

People will make individual choices about masking and attending gatherings based on each person’s own sense of vulnerability.

Acceptance of disability and death becomes normalized when there is no foreseeable short-term way of mandating behavioral modification to avoid nasty consequences.

Plus, as you point out, the overall reality of climate disaster is a problem that won’t be mitigated by behavioral modification mandates. The whole process of CO2 buildup in the atmosphere is basic to modern economic life where the dense energy of coal, oil, and gas is fundamentally ingrained.

The natural cycle of trimming back overshoot by humanity is taking hold and there really is nothing we can do to stop it now.