Covid-19 Discussion (moderated)

Top US infectious disease expert Dr Anthony Fauci said on Tuesday said the new variant of SARS-CoV-2, which has again shut the borders of many countries in fresh apprehension, is certainly not worse than the previous variants, including Delta. Speaking to AFP, Fauci reiterated that a complete picture of the new variant might take some time. However, some areas have become quite clear.

Here is what Fauci said:

Transmissibility: Omicron is "clearly highly transmissible", and very likely more than Delta, Fauci said.

 Immune evasion: Is Omicron better at evading immunity from vaccination or previous infection? According to Fauci, the answer is yes. Evidence is epidemiological data from around the world, he said. Results from lab experiments that tested the potency of antibodies from current vaccines against Omicron should come in the next few days to a week, Dr Fauci said.

I still have not seen any one die from covid (except vaccinated old people 84+ that had other conditions and people from third world countries who were malnourished) they died by complication with old age.

People quote news stories that are next to meaning less and that they don't understand but ignore what they see.

I have seen nobody die from covid. I have never worn a Mask I am vaccinated

I've known 4 to die of covid.

I am vaccinated.  I do believe we have viruses we need to deal with, and for certain segments of society need to be careful.  I do not wear a mask at work. home, church, or the gym.  There has not been a single case of covid at any of those places.  All of these places give people a choice.  You are free to wear a mask if you like, but you are not required to.  Out of respect to others I do wear a mask when i go to the grocery store.  But I do the vast majority of my grocery shopping online.  Walmart+ is awesome! 

To each his own. 

If you know them they died while having covid not from covid. And as I am they were probably old also

When my mom died this past April, the powers that be really pushed to have her death listed as covid.  She did not have covid and i told them that if i see covid on the death certificate then prepare for a lawsuit. 

Just got my Pfizer booster this morning....so far just as uneventful as the first two.

4% were under 44 years old;i have my very best friend of 25 years  that died in september this year of covid 19;she was 42.

https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/coronavirus-age-sex-demographics/

I was Pfizered back in August.  Mine were as uneventful as yours.  Sore arm and that was it.  Havent had the booster yet.

As fresh cases of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 continue to emerge from across the world, sparking concerns regarding its contagiousness, a study conducted by a Japanese scientist has found the new strain to be 4.2 times more transmissible in its early stage than delta that had wreaked havoc earlier this year.

“The omicron variant transmits more, and escapes immunity built naturally and through vaccines more,” an article in Bloomberg quoted scientist Hiroshi Nishiura as saying in his findings that were presented at a meeting of the health ministry’s advisory panel on Wednesday.

Nishiura is a professor of health and environmental sciences at Kyoto University and advises the country’s health ministry.

You know people are quoting stuff from other countries they haven't been in. And 4% is a very small number

The data was from the USA and 4% is a lot for the death under 44 years old,under 64 it's 22.5%

According to the report, he analysed genome data available through November 26 in South Africans in Gauteng province. Nishiura’s study has not been peer-reviewed and published in a scientific journal.

The study confirms the fears that omicron could deal the world a bigger blow than the delta strain. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has cautioned that it could fuel surges with “severe consequences”.

However, a section of people still feel that the variant may only lead to only mild illness given a jump in cases in South Africa, where the variant was first detected, has not yet overwhelmed hospitals.

The global health body recently said that early data indicates that Omicron may easily infect people who have either been infected earlier or vaccinated, but severity will be milder than what the Delta variant did or does.

Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE have also said that a booster dose of their vaccine could fortify protection against the strain.

The health community is trying to study the new variant, which is the most differentiated strain yet among the five variants of concern identified by the WHO since the pandemic began early last year.

Cases in South Africa have rapidly increased to about 20,000 a day since the first infection related to Omicron was detected there two weeks ago. The number of Covid cases in the nation had remained low in the preceding weeks, despite only 26 per cent of the population being fully vaccinated, according to Bloomberg’s Vaccine Tracker.

Historically speaking, the usual trend for any particular disease is for it to become more infectious but less lethal. After all, it is in the virus's own reproductive interest that it doesn't kill the hosts.

More infectious but less deadly is win-win from the virus's point of view.

A video (set subtitles) to think...

    Here's some of the things you should NOT be listening to....https://www.yahoo.com/news/scientists-race-understand-omicron-variant-123718711.html                                                                     

I checked data for the whole country and later and it was the same %.

Why not post the data you claim to have seen? If you saw(?) it,it exists so post it.