Endemic means that you continue to test yourself 3x a week until you die. (normal people won't do this of course, but I'm talking about you)
Endemic means that, like influenza, it's never going away. Once it infects everyone and kills all of the vulnerable people, the yearly infections and yearly deaths fall to lower levels and maybe only kill around 36K people in the US per year, like the flu.
Endemic means that, like influenza, we'll have yearly boosters that always seem to be a step or two behind because, like influenza the mutations are unpredictable.
Endemic means that ten years from now, if you're still around, you'll still be posting here ad nauseum about getting booster shots. And this, most certainly, won't be a good thing.
Endemic means that we didn't defeat the virus, we just learned to live with it and it already killed off most of the vulnerable people.
Recent examples of pandemics that didn't end in endemic viruses: SARS-CoV-1 and Ebola.
Diseases eliminated by vaccines (NOT ENDEMIC): Smallpox, Polio, Measles, Mumps and Rubella.
The goal and hope has always been that the virus either disappears on it's own (SARS-CoV-1 and Ebola) or that it was eliminated by vaccinations/herd immunity (Smallpox, Polio, Measles, Mumps and Rubella). Endemic was never the goal nor the hope, but it's probably the sad reality. And endemic isn't good.
BTW, even before CoVid, I always asked (and continue to) three questions of anti-vaxxers I encounter in my travels:
Do you know why George Washington had wooden teeth? Answer: Smallpox.
Do you know why FDR was in a wheelchair? Answer: Polio.
Do you know why Smallpox and Polio are no longer around? Answer: Vaccines.