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Omicron variant more resistant to vaccine but causes less severe Covid: study

washingtonpost.com

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Re: Omicron variant more resistant to vaccine but causes less severe Covid: study

#591

Post by heavyset_go »

smaryjerry wrote: post #486
renaudg wrote: post #370

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The best case scenario is a new less deadly highly contagious strain that become the most dominant and spreads worldwide. No, this scenario wouldn't be good news at all. Firstly, a marginally lower case fatality rate is a linear improvement, whereas much higher transmissibility is an exponential worsening. In other words, the reduced risk of an infected person getting into hospital is dwarfed by the exponential inc…

That would make sense but been the originally strains did not overwhelm hospitals. New York has the highest and craziest number of cases and deaths at the beginning and didn’t put one person onto the ship that was provided for temporary beds. Hospitals did not run out of beds and now the biggest problem is running out of staff, the same as every industry. At our local hospital all of the nurses quit for better, highe…

> New York has the highest and craziest number of cases and deaths at the beginning and didn’t put one person onto the ship that was provided for temporary beds

The ships weren't for COVID patients, they were for non-COVID cases so that hospitals could focus on the overflow of COVID patients that they were better equipped to handle. Turns out that at the beginning of a global pandemic, not a lot people opted to go to the hospital even if they needed to because of fear of infection.

Re: Omicron variant more resistant to vaccine but causes less severe Covid: study

#592

Post by ctoth »

crummy wrote: post #521
Heliosmaster wrote: post #495

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think GP is referring to earlier than that: when Covid was in China and was starting to blow up in Italy

Like this: https://www.vox.com/recode/2020/2/13/21128209/coronavirus-fe...

Oh man remember this?

If they’re used correctly, P95 and P100 face masks can reduce the likelihood of being exposed to coronavirus by blocking contaminated air particles. Currently, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advises against people in the US using face masks because most people who aren’t trained medical professionals may not know how to fit them properly, and the risk of exposure in the US is so low to begin with.

Re: Omicron variant more resistant to vaccine but causes less severe Covid: study

#593

Post by kbelder »

aqme28 wrote: post #583
renaudg wrote: post #370

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The best case scenario is a new less deadly highly contagious strain that become the most dominant and spreads worldwide. No, this scenario wouldn't be good news at all. Firstly, a marginally lower case fatality rate is a linear improvement, whereas much higher transmissibility is an exponential worsening. In other words, the reduced risk of an infected person getting into hospital is dwarfed by the exponential inc…

Or more simply, 5x as contagious but 1/2 as deadly? That's still a lot more deaths.

Good chance it means more deaths sooner, but fewer total deaths.

Re: Omicron variant more resistant to vaccine but causes less severe Covid: study

#594

Post by chasd00 »

roenxi wrote: post #577
oceanplexian wrote: post #468

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The thing is, vaccines were never advertised as tools to prevent infection. The story has always been that it reduces symptoms and hospitalization, so there are plenty of opportunities for the disease to get “tickets” in the evolution lottery. Between that, the animal reservoirs (COVID can spread to different species), and the millions of people in undeveloped countries who will never get a vax, COVID was guaranteed…

> The thing is, vaccines were never advertised as tools to prevent infection. A lot of people believed they were. I've spent some time arguing with people that the punishments for not taking the vaccine were too extreme, and that government-supported firing of people from their jobs was a bad idea. It was extremely common for people to argue that the vaccine would cut down on transmission (which is basically saying i…

this is why i was, and continue to be, against the various vaccine mandates. My employer said to me "upload your vax card or get an exemption else be fired". It was a bridge too far for me and I submitted for an exemption request on grounds of personal conscious. However, a couple weeks later we get another email that says if your exemption request is denied you are fired. I could have taken a moral stand but i have a wife + 2 kids and a MIL dependent on my income and I decided it wasn't worth it. I ended up canceling my request and uploading my vax card.

In the US the politicians know a law mandating the vaccine is a non-starter. So, instead, they encouraged and supported employers threatening their employees. I guess it's ironic that everyone is quitting everywhere anyway.

Re: Omicron variant more resistant to vaccine but causes less severe Covid: study

#595

Post by johnchristopher »

ShrigmaMale wrote: post #525
johnchristopher wrote: post #500

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your second paragraph assumes our governments have the means to do that. They don't. Which breaks the logic of your conclusion. And masks do add protection. Their political leverage is null. What is gained by authorities ? There's no advantages. > if we were worried about public health, vaccination status wouldn’t be considered at all, only infection status. Ww are worried. Infection status is considered. Vaccination…

Of course there's a political advantage. It's something that forces everybody to visibly declare an affiliation with a side at all times in public. That will always be used for political advantage.

> It's something that forces everybody to visibly declare an affiliation with a side at all times in public.

No. Forcing people to wear a police badge or a yellow star or a hijab or a a beard in some places would fit that outlook but the first reason to wear a mask is a medical/prophylactic one. The fact some people (right or left) decided to associate that with political beliefs is another matter that has nothing to do with the inherent advantages that wearing a mask provides in some occasions.

Re: Omicron variant more resistant to vaccine but causes less severe Covid: study

#596

Post by jat850 »

jack_pp wrote: post #589
jat850 wrote: post #570

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It amazes me that there remains this misguided view that vaccination efficacy around protecting others is a binary mechanism. It's not. There is evidence of at least partial reduction in infection, not just outcome, by being vaccinated. That's not including the nuanced aspect of it where being vaccinated reduces the severity and duration of symptomatic cases, which by nature reduces the likelihood simply based on tim…

Parent said he has natural immunity, can you cite any evidence that you can get covid twice? If not then people who can prove natural immunity don't need the vaccine and are just risking their health for nothing.

If you want sources I will find them, but there are studied and not simply anecdotal instances of multiple infections of covid, yes. The outcomes range somewhat across the board from subsequent risks of severe infection or death, in a way that resembles vaccination.

Re: Omicron variant more resistant to vaccine but causes less severe Covid: study

#597

Post by aqme28 »

drited wrote: post #590
renaudg wrote: post #370

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The best case scenario is a new less deadly highly contagious strain that become the most dominant and spreads worldwide. No, this scenario wouldn't be good news at all. Firstly, a marginally lower case fatality rate is a linear improvement, whereas much higher transmissibility is an exponential worsening. In other words, the reduced risk of an infected person getting into hospital is dwarfed by the exponential inc…

>marginally lower case fatality rate The op didn't state marginally could you please share where you are getting this from? The first publicly confirmed death globally from Omicron was reported just yesterday (source: https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/britain-says-omicron-spread... Given that the South African study discussed in this Washington Post article included 78k people, none of whom died if the above Reuters a…

It's growing exponentially and deaths are a lagging indicator. The true denominator is far from 78k people.

Re: Omicron variant more resistant to vaccine but causes less severe Covid: study

#598

Post by GeekyBear »

WillPostForFood wrote: post #503
GeekyBear wrote: post #339

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>The big question is whether the disease is genuinely milder, or whether the mild cases are just a consequence of the virus infecting people who are partially immune The initial data says that even though South Africa has a much lower vaccination rate, omicron is mild. From today: > lack of high death and hospitalization rates, despite the fact that Omicron has spread at breakneck speed across the country and account…

The last paragraph of the WaPo article we are all commenting on: “South Africa has a quite high seroprevalence of prior infection, particularly after delta, and in some parts of South Africa up to 80 percent of people were exposed to previous infection,” she said. “We don’t think it’s a question of virulence, but more a question of exposure to vaccination and prior infection, so we would be cautious to try and interp…

A study was done testing samples pulled from ~1.5 million blood donations in the US looking for Covid antibodies.

>By May 2021, the combined infection- and vaccination-induced seroprevalence estimate increased to 83.3% (95% CI, 82.9%-83.7%)

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2784013

The delta variant surge didn't hit the States until after this study concluded, so one would expect the numbers to be quite a bit higher today.

Re: Omicron variant more resistant to vaccine but causes less severe Covid: study

#599

Post by jat850 »

johnchristopher wrote: post #588
jat850 wrote: post #570

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It amazes me that there remains this misguided view that vaccination efficacy around protecting others is a binary mechanism. It's not. There is evidence of at least partial reduction in infection, not just outcome, by being vaccinated. That's not including the nuanced aspect of it where being vaccinated reduces the severity and duration of symptomatic cases, which by nature reduces the likelihood simply based on tim…

> It amazes me that there remains this misguided view that vaccination efficacy around protecting others is a binary mechanism. It's not. There is evidence of at least partial reduction in infection, not just outcome, by being vaccinated. I do not understand if this argument is made in good faith or if it's covid deniers stirring shit up in the public debate or just rationalizing their fear of the syringe (yes, I kno…

I think with the majority of instances it's a matter of repeating what they've seen online somewhere, where it is nearly unilaterally presented in similar tone. Some cases are malicious intent I'm sure, but I wouldn't guess the most of them.

Re: Omicron variant more resistant to vaccine but causes less severe Covid: study

#600

Post by krona »

drited wrote: post #590
renaudg wrote: post #370

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The best case scenario is a new less deadly highly contagious strain that become the most dominant and spreads worldwide. No, this scenario wouldn't be good news at all. Firstly, a marginally lower case fatality rate is a linear improvement, whereas much higher transmissibility is an exponential worsening. In other words, the reduced risk of an infected person getting into hospital is dwarfed by the exponential inc…

>marginally lower case fatality rate The op didn't state marginally could you please share where you are getting this from? The first publicly confirmed death globally from Omicron was reported just yesterday (source: https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/britain-says-omicron-spread... Given that the South African study discussed in this Washington Post article included 78k people, none of whom died if the above Reuters a…

> The first publicly confirmed death globally from Omicron was reported just yesterday

With Omicron, not from Omicron. It's an important distinction.

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