Omicron variant

Linda Harris59 said:I haven't read the full article, but I can certainly comment on the logic here.

Ebola is actually so incredibly lethal that it remains globally manageable because it kills off its host before it even gets the chance to spread effectively. Get it? When you're standing next to a dead man, he isn't exactly breathing down your neck.

Secondly, there is no "if." The coronavirus is going to continue mutating—that is simply how viruses function. I have been stating this repeatedly: the larger the pool of immunocompromised and unvaccinated individuals, the greater the opportunities for new mutations to arise.

The silver lining is that when a virus mutates excessively, it often ends up destroying itself. It reaches a point where it mutates so much that it ceases to be the same virus entirely and just vanishes. Viruses are merely passing through. We need to get vaccinated so we don't get swept away while they're making their way through.

If you'd actually paid closer attention to the stuff on Ebola, you might've caught the part where it spreads mainly through contact with the deceased (like, cultural traditions involving handling or kissing the dead and all that). So, it *can* still spread after someone passes—death doesn't stop the transmission entirely. Once they got those specific practices under control, the spread slowed down too.
Ebola has different ways of spreading, and it doesn't always need a living carrier.

Linda Lee4 said:That’s just plain wrong.

I have to admit, those comparative studies are quite clever, aren't they? I've come across several articles that always seem to pair vaccination against the combination of vaccination plus prior infection, only to triumphantly declare that the latter provides superior protection. People run away from comparing vaccination solely against natural immunity as if they're fleeing a demon, surely out of purely altruistic motives rather than the fact that such a comparison would cost Pfizer and its associates a fortune, wouldn't it?

Ronald Chavez2 said:I have to admit, those comparative studies are quite clever, aren't they? I've come across several articles that always seem to pair vaccination against the combination of vaccination plus prior infection, only to triumphantly declare that the latter provides superior protection. People run away from comparing vaccination solely against natural immunity as if they're fleeing a demon, surely out of purely altruistic motives rather than the fact that such a comparison would cost Pfizer and its associates a fortune, wouldn't it?

Oh, you haven't heard, buddy? Apparently, the "experts" and their "studies" claim that artificial immunity—which you supposedly have to keep topping up every 3 to 9 months just for one specific strain of the virus—is somehow superior to natural immunity, which, if you ask me, stays steady for years or maybe even becomes a lifelong thing once that initial dip settles down.

Linda Harris59 said:I did read it.

Of course a more lethal and contagious variant could emerge. Viruses mutate in completely unpredictable ways, and naturally, the variants that are most efficient at spreading are the ones that take hold. In my opinion, the absolute worst-case scenario would be a strain that is highly deadly but moves slowly—something that spreads silently through the population and only starts triggering symptoms after a significant amount of time has passed. That’s when you really get hit.

Japan is the light at the end of the tunnel here. Over there, the virus essentially mutated itself into extinction.

I don't want to go down a Google rabbit hole right now, but is Japan actually hitting zero cases, or are they just going to be reporting zero cases in the very near future?

Ronald Chavez2 said:I have to admit, those comparative studies are quite clever, aren't they? I've come across several articles that always seem to pair vaccination against the combination of vaccination plus prior infection, only to triumphantly declare that the latter provides superior protection. People run away from comparing vaccination solely against natural immunity as if they're fleeing a demon, surely out of purely altruistic motives rather than the fact that such a comparison would cost Pfizer and its associates a fortune, wouldn't it?

That comparison is fundamentally flawed because the entire point of vaccination is preventative protection.

Here’s just one more prime example of today's pandemic marketing—and by that, I mean the coordinated efforts of the task force and their paid-for media outlets like CNN.

The news and the headlines read like this:
https://www.cnn.com/news/article/...h/2321554.aspx
The CDC issued a statement regarding Omicron: It bypasses immunity more easily and is mostly being found in younger people...
"This variant has an increased ability to evade immunity, though vaccines should still provide high protection against hospitalization and death."
Omicron is more frequent among the youth.

Not long before that, on that very same mercenary news site, there was a report from the doctors who actually discovered this variant:
https://www.cnn.com/news/article/...i/2321550.aspx
US COVID doctors: Omicron doesn't cause severe illness.
"The symptoms of this new variant are unusual, but mild."

The sheep haven't quite figured it out yet.

John Ross7 said:I don't want to go down a Google rabbit hole right now, but is Japan actually hitting zero cases, or are they just going to be reporting zero cases in the very near future?

Well, Japan had 120 cases yesterday. That's for 125 million people living packed in there like sardines! It's less than one in a million, I guess.

Just for comparison, New Zealand—which had some of the toughest measures outside of China—had 146 cases yesterday for their 5 million people.
Just as a quick comparison, the US last saw fewer than one in a million infections back on June 17, 2020, though even then, numbers were probably lower since they mostly tested symptomatic folks, maybe even slightly skewed because of election season.

The big thing here is that Japan isn't really doing a zero covid policy.
It seems like high vaccination rates and everyone being pretty smart about safety measures helped push COVID back. How long that lasts, well, we'll see!

PS: Japan ran 46,000 tests yesterday. With 120 cases out of 46,000 tests, that's a positivity rate of only 0.26%.

Linda Harris59 said:That comparison is fundamentally flawed because the entire point of vaccination is preventative protection.

It isn't senseless because we are strictly talking about comparing the robustness of acquired immunity.

boldotter2 said:Well, Japan had 120 cases yesterday. That's for 125 million people living packed in there like sardines! It's less than one in a million, I guess.

Just for comparison, New Zealand—which had some of the toughest measures outside of China—had 146 cases yesterday for their 5 million people.
Just as a quick comparison, the US last saw fewer than one in a million infections back on June 17, 2020, though even then, numbers were probably lower since they mostly tested symptomatic folks, maybe even slightly skewed because of election season.

The big thing here is that Japan isn't really doing a zero covid policy.
It seems like high vaccination rates and everyone being pretty smart about safety measures helped push COVID back. How long that lasts, well, we'll see!

PS: Japan ran 46,000 tests yesterday. With 120 cases out of 46,000 tests, that's a positivity rate of only 0.26%.

Oh sure, because there’s absolutely no way the task force would ever try to manipulate their loyal followers with some nonsense about election optics or excuses about how they weren't running drills all summer because they were too busy enjoying their well-earned vacations while millions of tourists flooded the country, all of whom were obviously perfectly healthy.
Did anyone actually bother to mention what testing cycle they're running, whether they're tweaking those cycles based on whatever the current political climate demands, or even what kind of drugs they're actually pumping into patients in the hospitals—are we talking hydroxychloroquine, ivermectin, or Remdesivir?

Linda Harris59 said:That comparison is fundamentally flawed because the entire point of vaccination is preventative protection.

Look, since you end up with a COVID certificate regardless of which path you took, the comparison is actually spot on.
And here’s the kicker: "recovered" means different things to different people because the bureaucrats all use the exact same PCR test regardless of how you actually feel. It’s ridiculous. You could have been legitimately sick for two weeks straight, or you could have just happened to test positive on a random PCR swab without having a single symptom before or after—but according to the government paperwork, you're officially "recovered."
🤦

US COVID update:

- New cases: 2,858
- Average: 1,975 (+310)
- Positivity rate: 9.8% (+0.6)
- In hospital: 2,232 (+3)
- In ICU: 231 (-2)
- New deaths: 6
- Average: 32 (+1)

Jesse Hughes6 said:It isn't senseless because we are strictly talking about comparing the robustness of acquired immunity.

It’s complete nonsense. To actually build up natural immunity, you would have had to face the virus head-on without any preventative measures, essentially gambling with your life and risking a fatal outcome.

quietranger132 said:Here’s just one more prime example of today's pandemic marketing—and by that, I mean the coordinated efforts of the task force and their paid-for media outlets like CNN.

The news and the headlines read like this:
https://www.cnn.com/news/article/...h/2321554.aspx
The CDC issued a statement regarding Omicron: It bypasses immunity more easily and is mostly being found in younger people...
"This variant has an increased ability to evade immunity, though vaccines should still provide high protection against hospitalization and death."
Omicron is more frequent among the youth.

Not long before that, on that very same mercenary news site, there was a report from the doctors who actually discovered this variant:
https://www.cnn.com/news/article/...i/2321550.aspx
US COVID doctors: Omicron doesn't cause severe illness.
"The symptoms of this new variant are unusual, but mild."

The sheep haven't quite figured it out yet.

It stands to reason.

The Omicron variant emerged from regions where vaccination rates were practically non-existent. That is precisely why this specific mutation gained such massive traction; it evolved to bypass even the natural immunity people had already built up.

Linda Harris59 said:It’s complete nonsense. To actually build up natural immunity, you would have had to face the virus head-on without any preventative measures, essentially gambling with your life and risking a fatal outcome.

It stands to reason.

The Omicron variant emerged from regions where vaccination rates were practically non-existent. That is precisely why this specific mutation gained such massive traction; it evolved to bypass even the natural immunity people had already built up.

A good number of people already encountered the virus before the vaccines were even available, so isn't it worth examining the actual strength and duration of that natural immunity? From a medical standpoint, of course, it would be a complete nightmare for Pfizer if science officially proved that natural immunity is more robust and lasting than their products, potentially making those endless boosters unnecessary for those who have already recovered—not to mention the massive revenue they'd lose in the process.

When it comes to natural immunity, everything was being pegged at a full 12 months until about a week ago. Now, suddenly, they’re saying it’s only 6 months.

There was never any proof for 12 months, and there isn't any for 6 months either. I’ve spent the last year and a half glued to endless TV debates and "expert" panels, and honestly, the answers were always wishy-washy.

Our Secretary of Health (Denmark) is claiming Omicron won't trigger new restrictions unless certain countries end up on a so-called red list.
https://nyheder.tv2.dk/samfund/2021-...siger-heunicke

Rachel Allen55 said:When it comes to natural immunity, everything was being pegged at a full 12 months until about a week ago. Now, suddenly, they’re saying it’s only 6 months.

There was never any proof for 12 months, and there isn't any for 6 months either. I’ve spent the last year and a half glued to endless TV debates and "expert" panels, and honestly, the answers were always wishy-washy.

Our Secretary of Health (Denmark) is claiming Omicron won't trigger new restrictions unless certain countries end up on a so-called red list.
https://nyheder.tv2.dk/samfund/2021-...siger-heunicke

I believe you're mixing up the recovery certificate with the EU COVID pass. The latter has recognized a 6-month window for recovered individuals for a long time now, while the recovery certificate itself used to be 12 months.

Linda Lee4 said:I believe you're mixing up the recovery certificate with the EU COVID pass. The latter has recognized a 6-month window for recovered individuals for a long time now, while the recovery certificate itself used to be 12 months.

Nah, back here, the recovery cert used to be valid for 12 months, but now they've dropped it to just 6. Same deal for vaccines*; it’s 6 months since the booster became an option, whereas before it was 9 months. Basically, it's somewhere between 6 and 9 months depending on when they want you to get that booster, because apparently there's some debate going on within the EU about extending those certificates—at least that's what the local news is claiming.

*For a while, one of those shorter periods was basically indefinite, if you read the wording a certain way.

Rachel Allen55 said:Nah, back here, the recovery cert used to be valid for 12 months, but now they've dropped it to just 6. Same deal for vaccines*; it’s 6 months since the booster became an option, whereas before it was 9 months. Basically, it's somewhere between 6 and 9 months depending on when they want you to get that booster, because apparently there's some debate going on within the EU about extending those certificates—at least that's what the local news is claiming.

*For a while, one of those shorter periods was basically indefinite, if you read the wording a certain way.

Do you have a source for that?

They might have gone a little overboard with this one, honestly. It feels like the whole world just went down the drain under the guise of looking out for our health.

Linda Harris59 said:It’s complete nonsense. To actually build up natural immunity, you would have had to face the virus head-on without any preventative measures, essentially gambling with your life and risking a fatal outcome.

It stands to reason.

The Omicron variant emerged from regions where vaccination rates were practically non-existent. That is precisely why this specific mutation gained such massive traction; it evolved to bypass even the natural immunity people had already built up.

It’s pretty interesting that most of these mutations are hitting the exact part of the virus that the vaccines are designed to target.

When it comes to actually solving massive, systemic issues, we’re usually stuck waiting months or even years just to see if politicians will bother to lift a finger. But when Omicron hits? The speed at which they pivot is nothing short of fascinating. You honestly can't find that level of coordinated action even within a small neighborhood HOA...