Yes, I understand that it was 'poetic'. My point is that it doesn't apply to things like mosquito control, it's just defeatism, eliminating malaria was a great thing for countries that did it, not a nuclear holocaust.
Coronaviruses are definitely not in that category.
If/when we have another, more damaging pandemic, I expect the lesson about how powerful a tool social distancing is to sink in more widely (we are somewhat accidentally having a mild flu season so far; just changing attitudes about what is appropriate when symptomatic would be a benefit, you don't need to do big lockdowns to benefit).