Omicron variant

boldotter2 said:That article is super confusing, honestly. It looks like it was rushed together, and the Daily Telegraph link is stuck behind a paywall.

Anyway, I can't quite wrap my head around what the article is actually saying regarding how many people were at that club where 120 got infected, or if everyone there was vaccinated versus just having a negative test.

I guess if there were only 120 people total and EVERYONE was vaccinated and EVERYONE got sick, that would be pretty scary. Delta wasn't even close to being this contagious, it didn't bypass vaccines this much, and it mostly just caused mild symptoms in vaccinated folks.
But then again, maybe it's just bad reporting? I mean, I don't think any respiratory virus is quite infectious enough to hit 100% of everyone exposed.

So far, Omicron seems to show milder symptoms in people being hospitalized, but the wave is just starting and it's summer. They're also seeing a huge spike in reinfections among people who already had it.
https://edition.cnn.com/videos/world...tl-ldn-vpx.cnn

The only thing we know for sure about Omicron right now is that it basically ignores vaccines and pretty much bypasses natural immunity when it comes to catching it.
The big question, I suppose, is how much it bypasses immunity regarding actual sickness, and whether those milder symptoms come from the vaccine/previous infection or the virus itself.

The real test for Omicron will be during the winter in places with low vaccination rates, like Canada or Bulgaria. If we don't see massive hospitalizations there, then maybe we're in good shape.

👍👍

It might not be such a big deal, especially since New York City is pretty much staying unified too. That Gauteng graph showing the tough cases from yesterday still looks solid.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FGAjR0LUYAIwDbY.jpg

If I had to put money on it, I’d say we’ll see this same pattern elsewhere—where things aren't quite as dangerous as those older strains. Time is definitely on our side here; this variant has mutated enough already, so hopefully, it doesn't decide to go on another wild ride and revert back to being super aggressive.

So, apparently, if you're vaccinated over here and you've been in close contact with someone carrying Omicron, you're stuck in quarantine for 14 days 🤦

It’ll be interesting to see how that plays out, though honestly, nobody is actually tracking contacts anyway

boldotter2 said:That article is super confusing, honestly. It looks like it was rushed together, and the Daily Telegraph link is stuck behind a paywall.

Anyway, I can't quite wrap my head around what the article is actually saying regarding how many people were at that club where 120 got infected, or if everyone there was vaccinated versus just having a negative test.

I guess if there were only 120 people total and EVERYONE was vaccinated and EVERYONE got sick, that would be pretty scary. Delta wasn't even close to being this contagious, it didn't bypass vaccines this much, and it mostly just caused mild symptoms in vaccinated folks.
But then again, maybe it's just bad reporting? I mean, I don't think any respiratory virus is quite infectious enough to hit 100% of everyone exposed.

So far, Omicron seems to show milder symptoms in people being hospitalized, but the wave is just starting and it's summer. They're also seeing a huge spike in reinfections among people who already had it.
https://edition.cnn.com/videos/world...tl-ldn-vpx.cnn

The only thing we know for sure about Omicron right now is that it basically ignores vaccines and pretty much bypasses natural immunity when it comes to catching it.
The big question, I suppose, is how much it bypasses immunity regarding actual sickness, and whether those milder symptoms come from the vaccine/previous infection or the virus itself.

The real test for Omicron will be during the winter in places with low vaccination rates, like Canada or Bulgaria. If we don't see massive hospitalizations there, then maybe we're in good shape.

It's been present in Africa for the last six months without causing major issues. Plus, nobody even knows where Omicron originated. Calling people "sick" just because they test positive is total nonsense.

Paul White9 said:Instead of the government seizing these patents because it's clearly in the national interest—which they actually have the power to do—they just sit on their hands. Why? That’s the question.🙂

Good luck trying to claim a patent from your own employer.

Linda Lee4 said:And let's not forget Zoloft, arguably the most useful antidepressant out there...

Exactly. It’s even prescribed to children—which, I suppose, makes it pretty ideal.

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Linda Lee4 said:I don't have any beef with Prozac; I've been on it for nine months now, and it honestly pulled me out of the anxiety and panic attacks caused by this whole era of global madness.

Benzos like Valium or similar stuff are also a total godsend for someone mid-panic attack or dealing with heavy anxiety, but staying on them long-term is a fast track to addiction hell.

Obviously, none of these medications actually solve the root cause, but they buy you enough peace and quiet to actually deal with the source of the neurosis, whether you do that yourself or sit down with a therapist.

Viagra? Sure, if someone wants it and can't perform without it, why not... 😁

All I'm saying is that certain drugs make sense regardless of whether they come from Johnson & Johnson or not.

Naturally. I'm on an antidepressant myself. And Xanax.
Medication helps; I mean, it's not like we're being cured by shamans with magic tea.

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Has there been any official word on death tolls from Omicron yet, or are we still waiting for the numbers to roll in?

William Barrett7 said:Has there been any official word on death tolls from Omicron yet, or are we still waiting for the numbers to roll in?

I’d say I could report about twenty myself—if you count the ones we just lost. We were out digging trenches near the local playground by the apartment complex last night... had to move a kid's swing set and everything. I haven't even had a chance to get through the paperwork, and ten people have already slipped away today. Just give it a little time...

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latest

We finally have our first look at the Omicron lab data! It’s been about a week and a half since Omicron first made headlines. Pretty wild, right? One researcher even joked, “If I don’t die from the virus, I’ll die of exhaustion.” We’re seeing way more epidemiological data rolling in now, too. All of it together is starting to paint a much clearer—if slightly intense—picture of what Omicron is all about.
Can Omicron actually "dodge" our vaccine immunity?

Our first Omicron lab study was released today. A group of American scientists, led by Alex Sigal, mixed the live virus with blood samples from 6 people who had received their 2-dose Pfizer series. They also tested blood from 6 people who had both the 2-dose series and a prior infection. (Since boosters aren't widely authorized here yet, this is a great way to gauge things).

To figure out how effective the vaccines really are, the researchers counted the neutralizing antibodies that latched onto Omicron. These antibodies are huge for our defense because they spot the virus fast and take it out. Ideally, they kill the virus before it ever touches our cells, which stops it from replicating. No replication means no infection and no sickness. Basically, the more of these antibodies you have, the better off you are.

In this study, the scientists looked at how Omicron gets into our cells and how many antibodies react to it compared to the original SARS-CoV-2. So, what was the verdict?

It turns out the virus is using the exact same door to get into our cells (those ACE2 receptors) as it did before. That’s actually great news! It means our current toolkit, like the vaccines, is still relevant. If the virus had found a whole new entrance, we’d be in a much tougher spot.

But here's the catch: the virus is basically crafting a smarter key for that same door. Panel B in the figure below shows the big takeaway from the research:

For folks who only had the 2-dose Pfizer series (those orange dots), the neutralizing antibodies took a massive hit—we're talking a 40-fold reduction when facing Omicron compared to the original strain. That’s a much bigger drop than we saw with previous variants; Delta saw a 5-fold decrease, and Beta saw an 8-fold decrease. Still, if we're being honest, Omicron’s drop isn't quite the disaster some people were predicting.

As for those who had the 2-dose series plus a previous infection (the green dots), while Omicron does lower their neutralizing antibody levels, they still stay relatively high...............more info here

briskdrifter3 said:I’d say I could report about twenty myself—if you count the ones we just lost. We were out digging trenches near the local playground by the apartment complex last night... had to move a kid's swing set and everything. I haven't even had a chance to get through the paperwork, and ten people have already slipped away today. Just give it a little time...

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It's about damn time you came back, Kerefek76.
Please, try to steer clear of the Economy discussions—the topics here tend to be just as messy as the actual economy itself.
Pointless stuff.
Hopefully, things will be a bit better over here among the skeptics.

Watch out for Omicron and all that other nonsense.

I suspect we are finally seeing the twilight of this pandemic. The virus tends to mutate toward more contagious yet less lethal strains, which aligns perfectly with historical patterns and what we’ve seen play out before. Everything we know right now suggests that Omicron fits that exact profile. The real question is how the mainstream media will spin it; panic regarding Omicron is still being manufactured everywhere. This could serve as a convenient exit strategy for those in power.

Nancy Gomez26 said:I suspect we are finally seeing the twilight of this pandemic. The virus tends to mutate toward more contagious yet less lethal strains, which aligns perfectly with historical patterns and what we’ve seen play out before. Everything we know right now suggests that Omicron fits that exact profile. The real question is how the mainstream media will spin it; panic regarding Omicron is still being manufactured everywhere. This could serve as a convenient exit strategy for those in power.

Which option did you select in my poll regarding when the pandemic will finally conclude?

urbanwalker72 said:Which option did you select in my poll regarding when the pandemic will finally conclude?

I didn't vote—the system is still prompting me to cast a ballot. I only clicked because I had absolutely no recollection of the poll existing in the first place.

Nancy Gomez26 said:I suspect we are finally seeing the twilight of this pandemic. The virus tends to mutate toward more contagious yet less lethal strains, which aligns perfectly with historical patterns and what we’ve seen play out before. Everything we know right now suggests that Omicron fits that exact profile. The real question is how the mainstream media will spin it; panic regarding Omicron is still being manufactured everywhere. This could serve as a convenient exit strategy for those in power.

Exactly! Nobody wants to hear that this version is mild; they just want to scream "new variant!" and trigger the usual cycle of panic, lockdowns, masks in public, remote work, and canceling everything in sight. 🙂
It completely ruined Christmas for nothing. 🕺

Bryan Taylor9 said:Exactly! Nobody wants to hear that this version is mild; they just want to scream "new variant!" and trigger the usual cycle of panic, lockdowns, masks in public, remote work, and canceling everything in sight. 🙂
It completely ruined Christmas for nothing. 🕺

It isn't all being done "for nothing." That specific label—"the most dangerous strain yet"—serves as the perfect pretext for mandating vaccinations. They declared this strain so lethal that we were forced into strict restrictions during the Christmas and New Year season. Even if it turns out to be harmless, the argument shifts: perhaps it will mutate into something worse, making these measures "preventative." Or if it doesn't mutate immediately, it might later. The cycle is endless. The ultimate goal remains driving mass vaccination. A clear signal was sent by the primary architect of this entire crisis: "sometimes you have to take unpopular actions..."

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Truth be told... this whole saga just keeps going

Now I'm just sitting here waiting on PCR tests for the vaccinated crowd. Because why wouldn't they do that? 🙄

Nancy Gomez26 said:It isn't all being done "for nothing." That specific label—"the most dangerous strain yet"—serves as the perfect pretext for mandating vaccinations. They declared this strain so lethal that we were forced into strict restrictions during the Christmas and New Year season. Even if it turns out to be harmless, the argument shifts: perhaps it will mutate into something worse, making these measures "preventative." Or if it doesn't mutate immediately, it might later. The cycle is endless. The ultimate goal remains driving mass vaccination. A clear signal was sent by the primary architect of this entire crisis: "sometimes you have to take unpopular actions..."

View on twitter

Back when this massive mutation of SARS-CoV-2 first popped up and triggered a national emergency, Fauci told Biden and all Americans about two weeks ago that every adult needs to grab that third dose as soon as possible.
Then, weeks later, the lab studies come out confirming what we suspected: that third shot makes antibodies dozens of times more effective at neutralizing Omicron, plus the impact of these major mutations on T-cells gained through immunization is actually pretty weak (not to mention we already knew how much a booster helps against the Delta threat).

The thing is, Americans have this knack—this critical mass—for holding experts accountable and putting them back in their place. That’s why the US is the US, while everywhere else just stays stuck in its own local chaos.

Zero deaths from Omicron so far, even though this new variant is ripping through populations twice as fast as the lethal Delta
https://www.cityam.com/anxiously-opt...-deadly-delta/

The WHO has basically admitted they haven't been able to tie a single COVID death to this new variant yet. While there are reports of Omicron popping up in dozens of countries, nobody has actually reported a fatality caused by this specific mutation so far.

How much longer is this panic supposed to last?

rustywalker82 said:Back when this massive mutation of SARS-CoV-2 first popped up and triggered a national emergency, Fauci told Biden and all Americans about two weeks ago that every adult needs to grab that third dose as soon as possible.
Then, weeks later, the lab studies come out confirming what we suspected: that third shot makes antibodies dozens of times more effective at neutralizing Omicron, plus the impact of these major mutations on T-cells gained through immunization is actually pretty weak (not to mention we already knew how much a booster helps against the Delta threat).

The thing is, Americans have this knack—this critical mass—for holding experts accountable and putting them back in their place. That’s why the US is the US, while everywhere else just stays stuck in its own local chaos.

William Barrett7 said:Zero deaths from Omicron so far, even though this new variant is ripping through populations twice as fast as the lethal Delta
https://www.cityam.com/anxiously-opt...-deadly-delta/

The WHO has basically admitted they haven't been able to tie a single COVID death to this new variant yet. While there are reports of Omicron popping up in dozens of countries, nobody has actually reported a fatality caused by this specific mutation so far.

How much longer is this panic supposed to last?

So, where exactly is this supposed threat hiding? I mean, we’re all hearing this constant drumbeat about how dangerous things are, yet here we are, staring at the reality that nobody seems to be dropping dead. It makes you wonder if we're being led on a wild goose chase.