So, if Omicron is more transmissible but less deadly than Delta, would that be a good thing?
Depends how much less deadly, but yeah, it could be.
So Omicron could supplant Delta while reducing deaths?
Yep. It would be like a very contagious coronavirus that causes colds.
Interesting you say that, because I came across this indicating that Covid has picked up genetic info from the commn cold.
So wouldn’t this scramble international travel? You test positive to Covid, but it’s Lameass-Omicron-Covid, which isn’t dangerous, but you can’t get on (or off) the plane because we can’t distinguish variants?
Having had a different strain of Covid does not seem to confer immunity to Omicron, but it remains to be seen of the reverse is also true. If it is true, then we’re going to have two distinct pandemics: Omicron and Delta.
Fingers crossed that this variant really is super mild and incurs some immunity to future variants. Like a, well, vaccine.
It’s best not to jump to conclusions. Even with Delta, vaccinated people on the whole get much milder cases of COVID than the unvaccinated. We have yet to see if Omicron follows that pattern. If so, the unvaccinated may be in just as much danger as they are with Delta.
South Africa has a surge in hospitalized cases. Most of those haven’t been sequenced, but odds are they are omicron. I wouldn’t assume omicron is benign just yet.
A preliminary in vitro study shows that Pfizer vaccination is still partially effective against Omicron. Antibodies from vaccinated people’s serum don’t neutralize the Omicron virus as well as the original strain, but they still work. Serum from previously infected and vaccinated works even better. They didn’t test boostered people but are speculating that being boostered is at least as good as previously infected plus vaccinated.
Okay, great preliminary booster data is in. Booster protects against Omicron as well as two doses (I’m assuming fairly fresh two doses). So the CDC’s encouragement of boosters was a good call.
I already got the booster, so that is good news.
Glad I got Moderna (all three).
Dang it. I guess I can’t procrastinate on the booster anymore.
Yup - if you’ve already had two shots, even the tiny prior risk of severe anaphylactic reaction is reduced to pretty much zero. So you can be confident that the only downside is the kind of temporary reaction that you had before. I thought the risk-reward was in favor of the booster months ago, even when the benefit was uncertain, because the downside was negligible. No question now everyone should get it, even if it means an unpleasant day or two in bed.
Actually, it’s true that South Africa has been doing excellent genomic surveillance. They’ve done us a favor by surfacing this information. Had they not done this research or shared this information, it would have cost valuable time, and we might be calling it the “America Variant” or “Australia Variant” by now.
By labeling it the “South Africa Variant”, and slapping them with a travel ban, do you think this encourages South Africa or similarly positioned countries to be as cooperative in the future?
It’s sad how information gets obliterated by the knee-jerk hypersensitivity to things seen as “PC”.
Any word on how quickly the booster gets you to maximum protection? Is it still 2 weeks? I’m scheduled for my Moderna #3 next week, but have a bunch of social events over the next 2-3 weeks. My concern is that I’m past 10 months since my 2nd.
Also, people keep saying that #3 is a half dose. If so, should I expect the same side effects as after #2?
I seem to have more intense side effects each time (wondering if the pharmacist gave me a full dose instead of a booster on round 3, TBH).
I think it just varies from individual to individual. I felt effects from #2 but absolutely nothing from the booster.