You're Probably Going To Get Omicron. The Important Thing Is Not To Get It Now

[appalachiablue]

- Daily Kos, Jan. 12, 2022. By Mark Sumner. - Ed.

On Tuesday, Dr. Anthony Fauci held a “fireside chat” with the Center for Strategic and International Studies.” While some of the 30 minute talk was devoted to the attacks on Dr. Fauci being initiated by Republicans like Rand Paul, who have turned stirring up hatred toward the long time public servant into a fundraising opportunity, the major focus of the discussion was on what comes next in the COVID-19 pandemic. As might be expected, most of the questions directed toward Dr. Fauci were about the COVID-19 pandemic.

As almost might be expected, especially considering the venue, most also came weighted with a thick layer of calls to “get back to normal” and “end the emergency,” with more than a little pressure from the questioners that the best way to do this was just by ignoring the pandemic and the mounting cases clogging hospitals across the nation. - In response, Fauci emphasized how ending the pandemic has been a moving target, as the nation has confronted multiple ways (especially delta and now omicron) that saw rising rates of infection. And when it comes to what happens next, Fauci had a very blunt answer when it comes to the omicron variant:

- Dr. Fauci: “Omicron, with its extraordinary, unprecedented degree of efficiency of transmissibility, will, ultimately, find just about everybody.”

The biggest key at this point is to be vaccinated. The 2nd key is don’t get sick right now. In questioning, Fauci was also pushed with the suggestion that COVID-19 will inevitably get weaker & that more infections will simply make that happen faster. CSIS: “Some very respected figures who are arguing that accumulating immunity acquired through mass infection & mass vaccination puts elective evolutionary pressure on the virus to be faster, pierce immunity, & perhaps become less virulent.” The problem with this question is that it conflates 2 wholly different ideas. During the pandemic, the effective rate of transmission—expressed most often, and very imperfectly, by using the basic rate of reproduction value usually written as R0—has jumped from somewhere around 2.4 for the original virus, to something like 5 for delta, to numbers as high as 10 for omicron.

But these numbers don’t represent some kind of raw level of ability to infect an individual. It’s more complex than that.

The original SARS-CoV-2 virus was highly contagious with a reproduction rate roughly twice that of seasonal flu, & the novel coronavirus was just that—novel. As an emerging virus, no one on the planet had existing immunity. Other variants, including the highly infectious delta, emerged onto a planet where some percentage of the human population was already much more difficult to infect due to both vaccination & previous infection. Delta overcame this with, as the internet says, One Simple Trick. - In this case, a change in delta caused the rate of virus reproduction in the respiratory system to generate over 1,000 x as many viral particles as previous variants. - Omicron doesn’t share that trick. It’s not very good at infecting lung tissue. But it is extremely good at reproducing in the upper respiratory system. In fact, it seems to be capable of producing 100s of times as many particles in that part of the respiratory system. That’s why delta patients are more likely to have a cough, while omicron patients more likely to have a runny nose.

But wait! Omicron also has Another Cool Trick that’s driving it to record levels of cases: omicron just don’t give a @#!$ about past infections with other variants...

- Read More + Comments,
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/1/12/2074232/-You-re-probably-going-to-get-omicron-The-important-thing-is-not-to-get-it-now

[Skittles]

1. have some respect for our healthcare workers

STOP the gatherings, STOP dining in, stop being so fucking SELFISH

[YP_Yooper]

5. For all the issues with the lockdowns

it really did help slow the impact to the hospital systems, and saved lives.

I had friends in Italy when their system became overwhelmed in 2020. Not a pretty picture at all with the amount of death that could've been prevented if the hospitals didn't have to turn people away :/

[Permanut]

2. Dang, I was supposed to wait?

So my little partner and I decided it would be a good idea to go do karaoke on New Years. Bad idea, we're both recovering from mild cases of omicron now. Fully vaccinated and boosted, so recovering okay.

If we'd just gotten the memo.

[appalachiablue]

4. I hear you, a drag, even if reality. The hermit

lifestyle hasn't impacted me all that much, at least so far. I'd hoped that strictly following protocols and avoiding high exposure settings could stave off the beast. Not to mention a draining case of Long Covid. Ah well, c'est la vie.