Live data from Hacker News

Update on Omicron

who.int

221–230 of 794 posts

Re: Update on Omicron

#221

Please rename it back to Covid Nu, so we can use Covid Xi for next round, who made this for the whole world to suffer.

The skipping of that letter of the Greek alphabet, after the WHO's blunder around the questions of Taiwan, was certainly not without interest.

Re: Update on Omicron

#222

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And Xi sounds like the Chinese leader.

The Greek letter pronounced more like Kai. But, yes, the anglicized written form of the Greek letter looks like the anglicized written form of the Chinese leader’s name. And I agree, I’m sure it was skipped in the interest of not being antagonistic.

“Kai” (chi / χ) is a different Greek letter than “ksai” (xi / ξ).

Re: Update on Omicron

#223

Ok, my 2 cents. This happened because there isn’t enough vaccines in third world countries. They can’t afford them. The moral of the story? It doesn’t matter if you 100% vaccinate your western country. We’re all in this together. When COVID spreads in Africa and makes a new strain, it may as well be on your own doorstep. The world needs to step up and distribute vaccines to every corner of the globe, for FREE, or we’…

There is no way to eradicate covid everywhere, simultaneously or otherwise. It's now widely accepted that the virus continues to circulate even in vaccinated people. Besides, you are not even going to vaccinate 100% of any western country, let alone all of them or the entire world. Milder mutation are what is actually going to make the virus endemic, like it happened to the Spanish flu. Reports from the South African…

There do exist viruses that have been virtually eradicated with vaccines, even if they weren't 100% effective (cf Polio). We probably won't eradicate Corona with the first gen vaccines, but that isn't the point anyway. The point ist that we should reduce it enough so that mutations are less likely.

Re: Update on Omicron

#224
post #134
post #108

No one still thinks Covid is ever going away, right? It's likely something we'll just have to deal with like the flu. For one thing, there are now Covid-19 reservoirs in various animal populations. It's hard to say how this will evolve but there's a lot of evolutionary pressure on viruses to become more transmissible and less deadly. Why less deadly? Because a virus that is too deadly will likely die. It's why the Sp…

It can and will be eradicated, and eventually the flu along with it (which was already a high research priority before Covid). Just not soon.

With the heat death of the universe, sure.

Re: Update on Omicron

#225
post #178
post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think the virus could ever be stopped with today's vaccines, even if everyone was vaccinated. Data from fully or almost fully vaccinated countries clearly show that this doesn't eliminate the virus. It of course helps, but we have to depart from the idea that the "zero covid" strategies work.

I mean, there are Zero Covid strategies that work, see China or New Zealand. The problem is just that those measures are so drastic that many countries would probably not accept them. The goal in western countries is to get to the "endemic phase" of the infection - i.e. "live with the virus". That's all well and good, unfortunately this requires the disease to become significantly less deadly than it still is. We're…

New Zealand seems to have abandoned that Zero Covid approach [0]

> Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern acknowledged an end to the elimination strategy seven weeks into a lockdown that has failed to halt an outbreak of the Delta variant, announcing that restrictions would be gradually lifted in Auckland, the country’s largest city.

> “We’re transitioning from our current strategy into a new way of doing things,” Ms. Ardern told reporters. “With Delta, the return to zero is incredibly difficult, and our restrictions alone are not enough to achieve that quickly. In fact, for this outbreak, it’s clear that long periods of heavy restrictions has [sic] not got us to zero cases.”

> “What we have called a long tail, feels more like a tentacle that has been incredibly hard to shake.”

[0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ag5ubS_EHWU

Re: Update on Omicron

#226

Ok, my 2 cents. This happened because there isn’t enough vaccines in third world countries. They can’t afford them. The moral of the story? It doesn’t matter if you 100% vaccinate your western country. We’re all in this together. When COVID spreads in Africa and makes a new strain, it may as well be on your own doorstep. The world needs to step up and distribute vaccines to every corner of the globe, for FREE, or we’…

Totally agree. I am 30 and already got 2 jabs. I will probably need to get 3rd in less than 6 months to be able to normally live (covid pass in Europe). Risk to person of my age is low even without vaccine. I got myself vaccinated only to help the society (and to get covid pass) but I do not feel that I am helping if they are wasting vaccines on people like me instead of sending them to people who actually need them. It is sad that this is official EU policy to require re vaccination of young people (official recommendation to member states is that vaccine is effective for 9 months for all ages).

Not to mention that climate in central Europe effectively stops virus from May to October so it will be way more efficient to vaccinate people in August and September.

Re: Update on Omicron

#227
post #44
post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it is the other way around, there is no pressure to maintain a high severity as long as the virus can spread thus leading to mutations that lose the severe traits.

Uh, can you point at an example of a pressure to kill your host?

No that's why I said there is no pressure to be severe. Killing hosts doesn't provide many benefits (unless you spread via people touching dead bodies such as Ebola).

Re: Update on Omicron

#228
Summary: PCR tests still work, certain therapies still work, and interestingly, they claim to already know that "Current vaccines remain effective against severe disease and death." while claiming to know basically nothing else (not even whether it is more transmissible).

Re: Update on Omicron

#229
Dr Angelique Coetzee, chairwoman of the South African Medical Association:

“It’s all speculation at this stage. It may be it’s highly transmissible, but so far the cases we are seeing are extremely mild,” she said. “Maybe two weeks from now I will have a different opinion, but this is what we are seeing. So are we seriously worried? No. We are concerned and we watch what’s happening. But for now we’re saying, ‘OK: there’s a whole hype out there. [We’re] not sure why.’”

Re: Update on Omicron

#230
post #108

No one still thinks Covid is ever going away, right? It's likely something we'll just have to deal with like the flu. For one thing, there are now Covid-19 reservoirs in various animal populations. It's hard to say how this will evolve but there's a lot of evolutionary pressure on viruses to become more transmissible and less deadly. Why less deadly? Because a virus that is too deadly will likely die. It's why the Sp…

> It's hard to say how this will evolve but there's a lot of evolutionary pressure on viruses to become more transmissible and less deadly.

I'd like to think so but I fear there's no selective pressure with regards to decreased lethality for COVID-19. An infected person has already spread it far and wide by before they even develop symptoms – if they die after spreading, where's the pressure?

> Why less deadly? Because a virus that is too deadly will likely die. It's why the Spanish flu is now just H1N1.

The Spanish flu mutated into a deadlier strain first.

Post reply on HN