Senate Pandemics in the Age of Globalization: Coronavirus (COVID-19) Discussion: See OP Warning

No no no! We don't know this yet. Worst case is that a higher percentage of people get mild breakthrough infections compared to Delta, but the current vaccines will still prevent severe disease. Pfizer's pill inhibits viral protease (which is a replicative enzyme, not the spike protein), so mutations in the spike protein won't affect it.

All indications so far are that Omicron is a gain-of-function leap in transmissibility and a loss-of-function leap in pathogenicity, which in many ways would be very good news. If you're vaccinated and you get Omicron, it may provoke broad-spectrum, long-lasting immunity against a wide variety of potential strains.

 

Plus Omnicron can transform from a planet into a robot.

 

Lara Logan on....wait...wait... Fox , says people she talks to are comparing Dr. Fauci to Josef Mengele

 

I'd like a talk with such people, to show them extensive testimony about exactly what Mengele did. No guarantees about avoiding to inflict permanent mental scarring given, though.

 

I very much hope further data will provide more evidence of this.
In the meantime, I wonder if this would be a good time for certain governments to reconsider some of their double-standards....

 

Imagine the bizarre track this thread (and really, most internet chatter) is going to take if it turns out Omicron is like, way less harmful but could potentially crowd out Delta.


*PENDING FURTHER STUDIES, ALSO TAKE STEPS TO PROTECT YOURSELVES AND OTHERS REGARDLESS "Let them fight" is not valid medical advice. If you see two different monsters or viral strains duking it out in the streets, seek shelter immediately.

 

*resists sudden urge to actively seek out infection with Omicron*

(Seriously, that's a bad idea. Don't do it. )

 

I’m gonna trust the science over a CEO who is motivated much more by profit. Not saying scientists and doctors can’t be motivated by profit, but it’s gonna be a hell of a lot less than a CEO.

Basically I don’t trust CEOs

 

@Princess_Tina While I agree with the sentiment, I think what ultimately needs to happen is what my doctor friends are saying. This should be a wake up call to not continue following the same program and as the virus changes, so do we. Travel bans do not work obviously but that doesn't mean we throw caution to the wind either. I think it's really darn time we make vaccines mandatory for flying and even with it, testing should be regularly done on flights even if it's just random pool testing. There is no reason why anyone should be flying without having the necessary protection aka vaccines plus be willing to submit to random testing or more. And if you don't want to do that? Too bad you don't fly.

@blackmyron Again that is what the belief is but has my one doctor friend said until Delta and Omicron get into a boxing ring together, we won't know for sure. And as Dr. Hortez put it, they could very well co-exist together some with Delta going after the unvaccinated more Omicron targeting recovered COVID patients. Again we don't know for sure and the early data out of South Africa is saying that it's mostly infected the unvaccinated. Again will have to see what happens.

@Ramza One concern is that South Africa has a younger and healthier population then Europe or even North America so it makes sense they are seeing mainly mild cases with it. It will be when it hits more older populations including ones that are heavily vaxxed that will truly see how well everything holds up. We are already seeing breakthrough cases with it including a doctor from Israel who was vaxxed + boosted but only had very mild symptoms which again you hope for:



It is interesting to see how the companies are reacting as it does seem at least so far that Moderna is much more concerned then Pfizer. The Pfizer CEO said that while they are prepared for a possible vaccine built specifically for it, they said the best course of action for now is to continued with the current boosters and obviously vaxxed the unvaxxed. As a matter of fact, BioTech came out with a statement including a quote from Dr. Sahin that agrees with our resident doc @Vaderize03 that like with Delta we will see more breakthrough cases but symptoms will be mild:



Again just interesting to see how the two companies react. Very early data that is obviously subject to change out of Israel shows Pfizer vaccine + boost shows strong protection against it:



Will see how this measures up over time especially as it circulates more and we go out farther from the booster shots.

@jcgoble3 I think the hope is that's what the booster gives as again my doc friend says we are all getting boosters, just will it be infection or a shot.

@Jedi Knight Fett While I agree, I don't think he meant it as a greedy CEO. Matter of fact, it would have the opposite effect if he was correct since many people would no longer get the vaccine if it turn out to really be that ineffective against the variant. It could be where he was trying to set expectations. Moderna has prided itself has having better efficacy then Pfizer so perhaps that is going to go away and that they will both have about the same now. Like I said earlier, it is interesting to watch the two companies react to it.

 

Vaccination should be required to enter an airport in the United States, and those that can't get vaccinated have a negative test. Those that won't get vaccinated can walk or swim where they want to go.

 

A vaccine should be required for pretty much everything. Unless you have a legitimate reason not to

 

A vaccine should be required to enter any building other than your own private residence or a vaccination center. Period. (Obviously with reasonable exceptions for legitimate medical reasons.)

 

Pretty much ya. I said this before. I am all about freedom up until it effects someone else’s health. If it effects your health and your health alone go for it. It’s a free country. However Covid doesn’t do that.

 

FDA narrowly approved the Merck antiviral drug for an EUA:



Only for unvaccinated patients. I'm curious if it will be the same for the Pfizer one.

 

Poor low-key anti-vaxxers - now they all have to move their goalposts from "But it's not FDA approved" again.

 

Just got boosted.

 

Update on my booster shot: I had some minor body aches and pains starting around 10pm yesterday until around now from my Pfizer booster. I'm pretty sweaty right now, I think that's the end of it.

 

Boosters aren't approved for my age group yet where I live but I don't hit the 6th month point till mid-January anyway (I had an AstraZenica and a Pfizer shot about 10 weeks later). So if boosters become eligible for my age group in December, I'm assuming I should just wait anyway until I hit the 6th months from last shot out. I mean, this holiday season will be less non-socially distant than last year but y'know, it's supposed to be 6 months.

anyway, if there's an option to chose maybe I'll get Moderna just for the hell of it to have all 3 vaxs swirling about. Really attack any potential infection from all angles!

 

Nope. EUA is not approval, and that's exactly what they'll say, because that's also what they said about the vaccines themselves (and are still saying with regard to children and the booster).

 

This is actually the hope: that Omicron is easily transmissible and mild, but provokes a strong immune response. That would be a positive development in the long run.

Unfortunately,, I know a lot of greedy doctors. They're out there, and should be avoided.

I thought they didn't trust the FDA because "Gubmint bad!"

On a broader note, the post with Eric Topol's Tweet is spot-on; namely, that cell-mediated immunity from the vaccines will protect you from severe disease regardless of whether or not you show symptoms. This occurs regardless of how well antibodies work against new variants. Also, the body learns how to attack new variants a lot faster if you've had the vaccine, so the best thing you can do is get boosted.

 

Seems claims are coming out of Israel now, but it's a bit opaque just where the numbers are coming from.

https://www.jpost.com/health-and-we...icacy-against-omicron-expected-tuesday-687392

Though they sometimes have fairly vulnerable ribs.

 

Now they’re waiting for FAA approval.

 

Sentient beings are numerless. Well, this is good news. Hasn't been 2 to 3 weeks in a lab, but I'm glad it does not appear to be as bad as Delta.

 

I found out that my cousin, his partner, and their kids are all unvaccinated. His sister is also unvaccinated, but at least her kids got the shot, I guess? I haven't seen them since Christmas 2019, but I don't want one of them to potentially end up seriously ill because of a family get together. Flu was a bad enough occasional consequence of Christmas. Ugh.

 

As well as FBI, CIA, NSA, NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, and MLS approval, plus who knows how many other TLAs.

This is not a ****post because it's uncomfortably close to the truth.