Gamma Variant Accounts For 4 Times More Illinois COVID-19 Cases Than Better Known

[SheltieLover]

https://chicago.cbslocal.com/2021/07/20/covid-19-gamma-delta-variant-cases/

CHICAGO (CBS) — In Illinois while COVID-19 cases continue to rise quickly, the Delta variant is not the variant of most concern.

If asked to name a variant, you would probably come up with Delta first. It is easily the most talked about. While it is of concern in Chicago, other variants that are just as concerning are taking hold more quickly.

“We are sounding the alarm today because we are starting to see this uptick,” Mayor Lori Lightfoot said at City Hall Tuesday.

Snip

CBS 2 dug deeper into these numbers to see what the future might hold and discovered that among the six variants tracked by the Illinois Department of Public Health, the Delta variant, which gets the most attention, accounts for just 403 of those cases. The lesser talked about Gamma variant has four times more cases in Illinois — more than 2600 so far.

More at link. 😷

This is the variant Brazil has been struggling with, also known as P-1, which I've read is rising in NYC.

Vax resistent? Don't know yet.

[secondwind]

1. Hadn't heard of this one. Ugh

😩

[SheltieLover]

5. Very high mortality, from what U've read!

Esearch covid Brazil.

Fingers crossed vaxes & N95s can shield us!

😷

[Initech]

24. I swear this is becoming a smart virus.

Like different mutants are targeting different areas of the world with different results. It's going to take a lot of different vaccines to squash this thing.

[Maru Kitteh]

36. That's how evolution works. Nasty enough

to spread to new hosts faster than the last variant, not quite lethal enough to burn out by offing all the hosts - at least not right away.

[Hugin]

2. Quite the stew the willfully ignorant have led us into.

Bah.

Assholes.

[SheltieLover]

9. Yup!

This Brazilian variant has had very high mortality in Brazil.

Hoping our vaxes & N95s will sheild us!

😷

[Spider Jerusalem]

14. I dunno, from where I'm sitting...

the CDC saying "we can just re-open now and go back to normal and trust people who aren't vaccinated to mask indoors on the honor system" looks like the coronavirus pandemic equivalent of Bush on the aircraft carrier with the "Mission Accomplished" sign.

[Skittles]

29. yes, it is fucking ridiculous

yet even some DUers defended it

[radius777]

46. We need a much tougher approach.

A pandemic is basically a war-time situation that calls for collective sacrifice, and for our political leaders to use every political and legal mechanism to defeat the enemy, both within and without.

[leftstreet]

53. +1

[gohuskies]

3. Anti-vaxxers setting the stage for a mass extinction event via Covid

It feels like we are in a slow motion train wreck with the mis-management of arresting the spread of Covid's many mutated variants.

[SheltieLover]

6. I'm begining to feel the same way.

I am horrified that Olympics is allowed to go on.

What weird variant will emerge?

Stay safe! 😷

[ecstatic]

55. +1. nt

[zuul]

4. Jeebus, we will never get out of this mess.

Thanks, you f*cking selfish anti-vax assholes.

[bullwinkle428]

8. Pfizer vaccine 95% effective against Brazil variant (Gamma), per NEJM study

The COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech was shown to be 95 percent effective in neutralizing a more contagious variant of the novel coronavirus that was discovered in Brazil, according to a study published March 8 in the New England Journal of Medicine.

The research team said the vaccine's ability to neutralize the variant, known as P.1, was "roughly equivalent" to its neutralization rates for the original strain of the novel coronavirus. The study was conducted using 20 serum samples from 15 patients two to four weeks after receiving their second dose of the vaccine.

As expected, the researchers also found strong neutralization of B.1.1.7, the variant discovered in the U.K. They said neutralization of B.1.351, the variant discovered in South Africa, was "robust but lower."

The study was conducted by researchers from Pfizer, BioNTech and the Galveston-based University of Texas Medical Branch. They noted that their results were based on a lab study and need to be validated by real-world research.

https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/pharmacy/pfizer-vaccine-95-effective-against-coronavirus-variant-found-in-brazil-study-shows.html

[beaglelover]

17. LOL!

[LymphocyteLover]

21. A+ post

[SheltieLover]

11. Ty so much, Bullwinkle!

My bp just dropped about 500 points!

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

12. I've been wondering how they'll name new variants

once they've run out of Greek letters. So far we're four letters in to a 24 letter alphabet. It could happen in a year or two, at the rate we're going with variants.

[PA Democrat]

13. I think they should be named after people who have done he most to undermine our efforts to

contain the virus.

The Tucker variant, the MT Greene variant, the DeSantis variant, etc.

[Dave says]

20. I love it! Great idea!

[wackadoo wabbit]

23. No, we're at least five in. Say hello to the lambda variant

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/07/09/covid-heres-what-you-need-to-know-the-lambda-variant.html

Since lambda is the 11th letter of the Greek alphabet, there are either at least 11 named variants, or the person naming them didn't consult Wikipedia to figure out which letter came after delta.

Unfortunately, it seems as if each new variant is worse than the one before it.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

25. Exactly.

Imagine what the omega variant will be.

[Celerity]

31. We are 8 letters in. Variants get the Greek letter name once they become a VOI (variant of interest)

There are currently 4 VOI¨s and then 4 VOC's (variants of concern, the next step up)

There is one final, highest rating. (VOHC) Variant of High Consequence. None have reached this level so far.

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/variants/variant-info.html




here is a chart for the current VOI and VOC's

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100215645665#post27

[North Shore Chicago]

54. Thank you

DU can count on you to keep us up to snuff on the latest!

[roamer65]

15. The mRNA vaccines are proving their mettle.

The two now have names. Spikevax is Moderna’s.

I’m a Spikevaxxer.

[beaglelover]

16. Proud to be a fellow Spikevaxer!

[Texaswitchy]

18. Me to.

Weird name.

[Texaswitchy]

19. My would talk about the Spanish flu.

It was as bad as a think it was.

History is repeating itself.

Whole families died.

[wackadoo wabbit]

22. I thought the one from South America was the lambda one?

Or is that another one yet?

You can't tell the variants without a scorecard.

[SheltieLover]

26. Lambada came from Peru

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/07/09/covid-heres-what-you-need-to-know-the-lambda-variant.html

I can't keep up with them anymore.

On top of names, they have alpha numeric codes. 😓

[Celerity]

28. see post 27 for an easy reference chart

[SheltieLover]

30. Ty!

I wish they would just call them by country they are believed to have originated in. I realize why they aren't, but for some reason that's easier for me.

We read about the strains in various countfies, then see another related article & have to cross reference to find which one it is.

[Celerity]

27. No, SA is Beta. Lambda is the newest, from Peru, the one I have been most worried about after Delta

https://www.who.int/en/activities/tracking-SARS-CoV-2-variants/







Peru is getting crushed by Lambda, by far the highest death rate in the world atm.

https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/

[SheltieLover]

32. Yikes!

😷

[Celerity]

33. thank fuck we have not run into the highest level yet, (VOHC) variant of high concern

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100215645665#post31

[SheltieLover]

35. Maybe from Olympics

It's like a poorly made horror movie.

Irony is surreal!

[Celerity]

38. We have no idea where that potential VOHC human lawnmower could pop up from, could happen anywhere

on the planet. Let us all hope it never happens.

[SheltieLover]

39. I've been hoping it doesn't!

I'm not a doctor, but don't you think it unwise to mix virtually every variand in one place?

[Celerity]

40. mix virtually every variand in one place

that is happing globally, in many nations

[SheltieLover]

42. Yes but allnin one place at Olympics

[Celerity]

43. oh, well yes, they are crazy to do the Olympics, but at least they have far more protocols

than many other giant cities do atm who also have people from all over the planet ramming together, and doing so in a FAR less controlled environment

[SheltieLover]

45. Well that's true.

[Celerity]

47. We go give bloodwork for our variant-tweaked Moderna vax trial study later today, so we will

ask for all the latest data from the doctors we speak too. They have been really good with sharing info that is far outside the somewhat narrow purview of our study. They already told us they will have some preliminary data on the efficacy of our mRNA-1273.351 vax versus the new Delta variant. mRNA-1273.351 was designed specifically to fight Beta and Gamma (the South African B.1.351 and the Brazilian P.1 variants) and is showing extraordinary high efficacy so far (97-99%). Hopefully it is the same or at least near that for Delta, and then, down the road, Lambda (I highly doubt there is data in for Lambda yet versus the mRNA-1273.351 vax).

[SheltieLover]

49. Great!

Can you pls ask what the % of fully vaxed (mRNA) with mild or asymptomatic breakthroughs ending up with long haul?

Tyia!

[Celerity]

51. I will deffo ask that, not sure if the data will be in. I know in the UK that 40% of COVID

hospitalisations atm are from partially or fully vaxxed, 60% unvaxxed.

[SheltieLover]

41. Now The Hill is reporting gamma six times more prevalent than delta in IL

https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/564173-illinois-reporting-six-times-as-many-gamma-variant-cases-than-delta-report?amp

[Celerity]

48. Analysis: One percent of people in low-income countries vaccinated

https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/564226-analysis-one-percent-of-people-in-low-income-countries-vaccinated

Just one percent of people in low-income countries have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, according to a new analysis pointing to "wide" global disparities.

By contrast, the analysis from the Kaiser Family Foundation finds that 51 percent of people in high-income countries have received at least one dose.

Furthermore, the analysis finds low-income countries are not on pace to reach the World Health Organization-backed goal of vaccinating 40 percent of the population by the end of the year, and, in fact, would need to increase their vaccination rates by almost 19 times to meet that goal.

"There is a massive and growing gap in vaccinations by country income," tweeted Josh Michaud, one of the authors of the analysis.

Link to tweet

[SheltieLover]

50. ...

[SheltieLover]

34. Ty for the chart!

Would it not be prudent to shut down international travel?

[Celerity]

37. good luck with that atm, the UK & many other places are stupidly lifting a shedload of restrictions

The US FDA needs to reclassify the RNA vaccines from experimental to fully approved and then the governments need to start cracking down hard on vax refuseniks. Especially in the US.

I fear massive civil disturbances if mask mandates and lockdowns start to happen again, let alone forced vaxxing. The US is in for a shitshow, unfortunately, IMHO. Hopefully all these QMAGAt media types and politicians coming out and telling people to get vaxxed will help. Many QMAGAts are so brainwashed they will not listen to them though.

They have erected a death cult.

[SheltieLover]

44. I know. I know.

Now we have a case of monkey pox in Texas. Some person who traveled here from Nigeria.

I don't think humans are seeing that global warming and pandemic are worsening exponentially due to travel.

[wackadoo wabbit]

52. That's a really handy chart that I hadn't seen. Thank you for posting it!

I, too, am very worried about the Lambda variant.

edit: I should have looked at the link for the chart before posting; I answered my own question!