COVID-19 Megathread 6: Return of the Omicron

[Meclazine for Israel]

Let me be clear, it will be over, but it isn’t yet.

There was an epidemiologist in Adelaide, SA who forecast (6-12 months ago) through modelling that with regard to the pre-Omicron variants; it is highly probable that everyone on the planet will get COVID-19 three times in the next ten years.

Vaccination is therefore the only solution.

With Omicron, and more variants to come, this could turn into an annual flu-like situation with an immunisation booster.

The medical advice from nurses in 1918 is the real solution if you want to avoid COVID-19:

1. Wash your hands for 20 seconds in warm soapy water;
2. Wear a mask.

[Meclazine for Israel]

The vaccine is very unlikely to cause any issues beyond the day or 2. Colds are traditionally a 9 day affair with 3 days of hell in the middle. Anyway the booster caused 1 night of hell for me (much worse than shots 1 and 2) so I'm not sold yet on getting a 4th booster anyway.

Everybody's reacting differently. My worst dose of COVID vaccine in terms of side effects had been the second one in June. The booster was actually the most palatable one for me so far. Maybe it depends on whether you combine different vaccines? I had Moderna three times in a row now.

I had two Pfizers and my arm hurt for two days. Better than going to hospital with viral pneumonia I guess.

[Meclazine for Israel]

Novak Djokovic says he has a medical exemption to come into Australia to defend his Australian Open title:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-01-04/novak-djokovic-says-received-an-exemption-to-enter-australia/100738536

Not sure if this will fly.

Whether both the Federal and State Governments agree on letting people in for sports reasons is a grey area.

[Meclazine for Israel]

....Delta is still circulating. People seem to be ignoring this point, so trying to hype omicron up into something more significant is grasping at straws.

Omicron is much less lethal than the Delta variant.

75% of ICU beds in NSW are Delta.

90% of New Cases in NSW are Omicron.

And the death rate world wide has plummeted to 0.2% down from between 1.8-2.0%

So that means if people are mainly dying from Delta (say 75% of case deaths) the Omicron mortality rate is 25% of 0.2%.

That comes out at 0.05% mortality rate for Omicron.

We will find out in 2-4 weeks time, but regardless of the final mortality rate for Omicron, it is becoming clear that as Omicron replaces Delta, then we are heading for the exit door of the pandemic.

[Meclazine for Israel]

WA registers first Omicron case:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-01-05/wa-records-five-new-local-covid-19-cases-exposure-sites-grow/100739540

We only had 5 cases of community spread with Delta, but one Omicron case has emerged in hotel lockdown.

Here we go. We avoided it for nearly 2 years.

1, 4, 16, 64, 256, 1012, 4096........

[Meclazine for Israel]

Novak Djokovic says he has a medical exemption to come into Australia to defend his Australian Open title:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-01-04/novak-djokovic-says-received-an-exemption-to-enter-australia/100738536

Not sure if this will fly.

Whether both the Federal and State Governments agree on letting people in for sports reasons is a grey area.

As predicted, the lack of political co-operation between State and Federal Governments for the ability of Novak Djokovic to defend his Australian Open in Melbourne has gone next level.

This has become political now with the Serbian President now involved. Novak is anti-vaccintation and will not reveal his vaccination status.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-01-06/serbian-president-will-fight-for-novak-djokovic/100740932
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-59889522
https://edition.cnn.com/2022/01/05/tennis/novak-djokovic-australia-open-visa-spt-intl/index.html
https://www.foxnews.com/sports/novak-djokovic-denied-entry-australia-visa-deportation
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/1/5/australia-cancels-novak-djokovic-visa

'Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic may not be able to defend his 2021 title after his visa to enter Australia was canceled, Health Minister Greg Hunt said in an on-camera interview with local media Thursday.'

'Djokovic "failed to provide appropriate evidence to meet the entry requirements for Australia and visa has been subsequently canceled," he said.'

Novak is very liked in Melbourne and this will be simply embarrassing for the Victorian Government following a long list of 2020 and 2021 embarrassments in their inability to effectively manage COVID related issues.


(Photo Credit ABC: Tom Maddocks)
Fans waiting at Melbourne Airport this morning for Novak Djokovic.

Follow live:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-01-06/live-novak-djokovic-visa-reactions/100741054

[Meclazine for Israel]

My nephew has Omicron, exposed on Monday in Hobart.

One of his girlfriends' friends in Melbourne was freaking out about COVID transmission rates in Melbourne, so she flew to Hobart to stay in his house in the perceived safety of Tasmania.

But all she did was bring Omicron and infect every one in their house.

He was exposed Monday and was sick as a dog Thursday morning.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-01-07/covid-omicron-symptoms-incubation-period-infectious/100739260

It now appears Omicron is the most contagious communicable disease affecting humanity.

[Meclazine for Israel]

NSW has banned singing and dancing in light of a record Omicron outbreak:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-01-07/nsw-premier-dominic-perrottet-reinstates-covid-restrictions/100743852

WA recorded 1 Omicron case yesterday. Despite this, 2 million people in Perth are still on edge and mask mandate ends today.

[Meclazine for Israel]

WA had one new COVID case with community transmission. 7 in hotel quarantine from interstate.

Population statistics for vaccination.

1st jab : 93.5%
2nd jab : 85.7%
Booster : 12.2%

[Meclazine for Israel]

WA had one new COVID case with community transmission. 7 in hotel quarantine from interstate.

Population statistics for vaccination.

1st jab : 93.5%
2nd jab : 85.7%
Booster : 12.2%

WA had like 16 thousand news cases.  Are politicians trying to blame interstate travelers again.  Yeah.  Stop doing that S$$$. 

WA - Western Australia not Washington State.

16,000 is next level.

[Meclazine for Israel]

Is Omicron worth stressing out about?

Looking at the numbers, NSW had 16 deaths from 32,000 positive test results.

We are talking 0.05% mortality rate.

COVID-19 Vanilla and Delta were 2% mortality rate at the end of the day.

The Omicron mortality numbers from NSW are 40 times lower than these data would have predicted.

Clearly, there is a 2 week lag between cases and deaths, we have 90% vaccination rates and the majority of people infected are 20-39 years of age, but the stats are revealing that this variant is much less potent than its predecessors.
 

[Meclazine for Israel]

If someone wants to never leave their house again, that's their prerogative.

If someone wants to triple mask, avoid all social gatherings, and avoid eating indoors, that's their prerogative.

If someone wants to avoid travel, that's their prerogative.

So you've met my girlfriends' patents then?

[Meclazine for Israel]

It will be interesting to see how the US fairs with Omicron.

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/africa/south-africa-offers-clues-to-life-after-omicron-1.4772352

South Africa are near finished and they are saying a lot less pressure on hospital beds, but rapid and high transmissibility.

The World just dodged a bullet with that variant.

[Meclazine for Israel]

So it is looking like Valentine's Day (or thereabouts) will be the peak for the Omicron variant in the United States.  Thereafter, it will gradually fade away:
 
Coronavirus Update: Fauci Predicts Omicron Variant Will Reach Peak In February

I am definitely staying in Camp 3 until late March or early April. 

I predicted the first peak was going to fade into oblivion in June 2020.

That idea didn't age well.

Now I am getting a Booster shot 2 years later. This thing is brutally linked to human history now.

[Meclazine for Israel]

New variant deserves a new thread.

The "Son of Omicron" has arrived in Denmark and can only be detected by lab analysis.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10445209/Expert-stuns-Karl-Stefanovic-warns-contagious-Covid-variant-BA-2.html

University of Melbourne epidemiologist Professor Nancy Baxter was on morning TV saying it's more contagious than Omicron.

[Meclazine for Israel]

3rd (booster) shot today.

Received Moderna after the first two Pfizer jabs.

[Meclazine for Israel]

I'm pretty sure I had COVID early this week. It felt like the mildest cold I ever had, with none of the worst cold symptoms. At worst, my nose ran like a faucet.

Probably wasn't covid--I'm like that nearly year-round.

My symptoms from the Moderna 3rd booster were worse than that.

Then again, there are people who get COVID and have no symptoms and never test positive.

It just doesn't get them.

[Meclazine for Israel]

Worldometer says Florida is averaging only 29 per day, and is declining.

Please tell me that you are not this dumb.

Just a few minutes ago, it fell to 22.

You know the BlueAnon crowd will jump in and claim that it's somehow fake.

There is clearly something wrong with Florida's data, whether it's intentional or not. Texas has 7x deaths per capita in the last week under mostly similar climate and leadership.

Could be simply on a different part of the curve.

[Meclazine for Israel]

...it involves getting an injection that essentially causes COVID for a day, and adds a huge layer of "papers please" surveillance everywhere...

COVID must be pretty bad, because my Moderna booster shot destroyed me for 2 days. Splitting headache, gut ache, nausea. I cannot imagine that the virus would be much worse.

I have not had a gut ache in over 10 years,m and each COVID vaccine shot just destroyed me.

But all better now.

[Meclazine for Israel]

The Moderna booster was the sickest I've felt in my adult life. Thankfully, it only lasted one night. It surprised me since the first 2 were annoying but tolerable, and the booster is only a half dose.

I wouldn't say mine was that intense. Malaria is the sickest I gave been and cancer treatment etc. But certainly gave me a couple of days of pain and suffering.

[Meclazine for Israel]

Life After CoVID-19

https://theconversation.com/life-after-covid-most-people-dont-want-a-return-to-normal-they-want-a-fairer-more-sustainable-future-173290

"most people don’t want a return to normal"

Stephan Lewandowsky
Chair of Cognitive Psychology, University of Bristol

Ullrich Ecker
Professor of Cognitive Psychology and Australian Research Council Future Fellow, The University of Western Australia

[Meclazine for Israel]

It has come to the forum managers attention that some people are not pronouncing 'Omicron' correctly.

They have asked me to make a small presentation on the correct annunciation of 'Omicron'.

Pronouncing Omicron

https://youtu.be/-GjMbMQGOpA

[Meclazine for Israel]

Woman crashes into anti-mandate protesters car.

Canberra Incident

https://youtu.be/IBDju70r0s0

It was part of a larger anti-vaxx movement protest in Canberra.

[Meclazine for Israel]

Should you mix and match?

https://www.abc.net.au/news/health/2022-01-19/covid-booster-vaccination-pfizer-moderna-astrazeneca/100763758

"UK researchers recently measured the immune response of nearly 3,000 people who received one of seven COVID-19 booster vaccines (or a control jab) two to three months after their second dose of either AstraZeneca or Pfizer.

They found that people boosted with Pfizer following two doses of AstraZeneca had antibody levels nearly 25 times higher than controls. For those who received a Moderna booster (following AstraZeneca), antibody levels increased 32-fold.

Among those who had Pfizer for their first two shots, a third Pfizer dose saw antibody levels rise more than eightfold. For those who received a Moderna booster, antibody levels increased 11-fold."

[Meclazine for Israel]

Shut the everloving f**k up. I LITERALLY VOTED FOR BIDEN. I GOT VACCINATED ALMOST AS SOON AS IT WAS AVAILABLE TO ME AND I'M BOOSTED. You are a f**king deranged hack and need help. Now.

You seem agitated.