COVID-19 Megathread 6: Return of the Omicron

[LostFellow]

https://news.delta.com/sites/default/files/2022-03/a4a_board_letter_to_president_biden.pdf

Several airline CEOs call for the mask mandate to be repealed. Do this and watch the number of angry passengers drop like a stone. It really is that simple.

Incidents of violent, unruly passengers was sharply rising well before covid, and there's no turning back that trend. Doubtful this would have any impact, these same people will find some other reason to pick fights on planes.

I think that the mask requirement does have some marginal affects in terms of unruly passengers, but I suspect that the main cause is the general increase of "unruly" behavior since early 2021 caused by various factors (covid closures, the ever increasing prevalence of social media, a generally more transient job market). I feel like drivers post covid are like 5 times more aggressive than pre covid (not to mention the increases in crime), and this general trend most definitely extends to airplane passengers regardless of mask requirements.

[LostFellow]

There is most certainly going to be a BA2 surge like in every other European nation, with the early signs occurring right now: https://www.mwra.com/biobot/biobotdata.htm.

The point of contention is the magnitude of the surge, and whether any forced preventative measures should exist. It is a completely consistent viewpoint to both be against restrictions and also recognize that there is potential for many people to get mildly sick for a short period. This isn't so complicated.

[LostFellow]

Remember when they promised a vaccine that was reformulated to protect us from Omicron would be out by March?

Pepperidge Farm remembers.

Yeah, I'm vaxed and boosted but I'm done with further shots until we get a reformulated one that targets the viruses that are actually in circulation nowadays. With my young age, good physical health, and the fact I get badly sick for 2-3 days after each shot, I see no reason to participate in Pfizer and Moderna's continued cash-cowing of their now-outdated vaccines.

It is weird that Pfizer and Moderna are still using vaccines that are for variants that are about 4 or 5 generations in the past.

I mean the mRNA vaccines are still extremely effective against significant sickness from covid. No reason not to leave the channel open for those who are still unvaccinated and/or unboosted.