It is as if the COVID pandemic was unique. It does have some unique features.
But viral pandemics are the norm. COVID isn’t the first and it won't be the last.
Here’s a list of nightmare viruses that pose a risk of a pandemic.
https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2023/01/29/1151039454/9-diseases-virus-epidemiologists-pandemic-potential-who
Now consider this. Paleobiologists have evidence that species specific viral pandemics are one cause of mass extinctions.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8155848/
Is a viral pandemic capable of causing human extinction far fetched? Guess again.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8802343/
Article #1 on NPR is by Sheila Eldred, a graduate of Columbia Journalism School. None of the diseases listed, has any pandemic potential whatsoever. They don't transmit well, and have never caused more than relatively small outbreaks.
Article #2 is about plankton and algae in the oceans. It describes an ongoing battle between these marine single-celled organisms, and the viruses that afflict them. Fascinating! The authors claim that they can't imagine any other reason that a plankton species would go extinct, aside from the occasional meteor strike or other worldwide catastrophe. Maybe, but what about natural selection of competing species under pressure from evolving predators? At any rate, I don't see the relevance to humans, who have much more advanced immune systems.
Article #3 is by a Eleftherios Diamandis, who is a pathologist and microbiologist, but once again he isn't an MD or an ID specialist. The article is highly speculative. He's really describing a multi-faceted catastrophic situation. He talks about over-population, species loss, pollution, global warming, and the destruction of the planet. Then there's a discussion of the human biota, where he says that three hundred trillion organisms are in peaceful co-existence with every human being. But for some reason, Diamandis thinks that one of those could suddenly leap forward to drive the entire race extinct, even though it's never happened before? Hey, it happened in "The Andromeda Strain" and there's nothing far fetched about that.