COVID-19 Megathread 6: Return of the Omicron

[Inmate Trump]

About to get my Moderna booster.

Nervous about feeling ill later. I can’t miss work tomorrow.

[Inmate Trump]

USA still up around 100,000 cases per day. That is crazy.

800,000 dead and over 1M have lost their sense of smell.

My thoughts with you guys this winter.

If we’d had a president early on in the pandemic who sought to lead and govern and actually be helpful then things would have been different.

[Inmate Trump]

Well, it now seems that break through cases are are killing with ruthless efficiency. 28% of the the hospital admissions are break through cases in Michigan, as are 24% of the deaths. So now, the issue is whether I need to cancel our thanksgiving plans. One of the celebrants has not had a booster shot, and I don't know how long it has been since she had her jabs.

https://www.politico.com/news/2021/11/22/covid-surge-winter-523109

Lol

Why are you lol’ing?

[Inmate Trump]

Another new variant. This one more dangerous and concerning than Delta.

Will this ever end?

[Inmate Trump]

What if this just keeps mutating more and more until civilization as we know it ends?

[Inmate Trump]

This seems to have bought the idiots who think that lockdowns are a force of nature rather than a government policy option put of the woodwork.

Who here thinks that?

[Inmate Trump]

https://twitter.com/PaulBrandITV/status/1465240129216331779?t=iJf6i_ycDzNagYlsbj...

This means that the omicron variant has already spread across the planet, and may have been spreading for weeks prior to being detected in South Africa. It's only a matter of time now before the first American case is reported.

Yea, it's definitely already here.  I don't have any doubts about that.

[Inmate Trump]

I don't see what the big deal is.

Personally, I'm not going to be walking around a store or in public without a mask for a long time.  But that's my personal decision, so why should anyone else care?

[Inmate Trump]

https://twitter.com/disclosetv/status/1466119839991275520?s=20

Damn it California.

I'm sure it's in many more places throughout the country.

[Inmate Trump]

Has there still been no data on Moderna‘s efficacy against Omicron?

[Inmate Trump]

If I need another vaccination for the Omicron variant, then I am getting it. 

As will I.

I just don't know that many will.  I hope I'm wrong.  I just don't see everyone going out to get jabbed for each new variant that pops up.  It'll be a constant vaccination every few months.

[Inmate Trump]

https://twitter.com/weijia/status/1471157087669526538

Hoping that includes Moderna and not just Pfizer, which gets all the attention.

I read J&J’s protection is wiped out by omicron. So hopefully those people get a booster soon.

[Inmate Trump]

GWU going to online instruction. Unreal. Casedemic is here

I am telling y’all right now:

If a case surge costs us the nfl, cfb playoffs, in person instruction, etc

The dems will be absolutely blasted into the moon by voters in November.

I’m talking a 45 seat loss

I’m not saying you’re wrong about Dems taking a beating.

But lockdowns and school/work from home largely occurred under Trump’s administration. More so than Biden’s.

[Inmate Trump]

GWU going to online instruction. Unreal. Casedemic is here

I am telling y’all right now:

If a case surge costs us the nfl, cfb playoffs, in person instruction, etc

The dems will be absolutely blasted into the moon by voters in November.

I’m talking a 45 seat loss

I’m not saying you’re wrong about Dems taking a beating.

But lockdowns and school/work from home largely occurred under Trump’s administration. More so than Biden’s.

Well Trump isn’t President anymore. So people aren’t going to blame him for anything that is going on under Biden’s watch.

You're not wrong.

My point is that lockdowns were almost entirely under Trump.  So stop with the "dEmS aRe LoCkInG uS dOwN!" nonsense.

[Inmate Trump]

GWU going to online instruction. Unreal. Casedemic is here

I am telling y’all right now:

If a case surge costs us the nfl, cfb playoffs, in person instruction, etc

The dems will be absolutely blasted into the moon by voters in November.

I’m talking a 45 seat loss

I’m not saying you’re wrong about Dems taking a beating.

But lockdowns and school/work from home largely occurred under Trump’s administration. More so than Biden’s.

Well Trump isn’t President anymore. So people aren’t going to blame him for anything that is going on under Biden’s watch.

You're not wrong.

My point is that lockdowns were almost entirely under Trump.  So stop with the "dEmS aRe LoCkInG uS dOwN!" nonsense.

Trump wasn’t the one ordering lockdowns across the country in 2020.

In March of 2020 Trump actually praised governors for locking down their states

President Trump applauded California Gov. Gavin Newsom and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo for taking "strong and bold steps" by ordering all nonessential workers to stay home” in order to stop the spread of the coronavirus

Looking back, it's clear that in the early months of the pandemic Trump had no problem with state lockdowns and he supported the governor who did it...

Well if any lockdowns happen in the future, people are going to blame the Democrats for it.

Did you blame Trump?

[Inmate Trump]

Let us wait to see what long-term effects Omicron has before we deem it trivial. Previous incarnations of COVID-19 have consequences other than death. Diabetes, organ damage, cognitive loss, stillbirths, and sexual dysfunction are not to be taken lightly. 

COVID-19 is no simple disease. Prevention is usually simple. I'm taking no risk with omicron.

Those are all complications that result from severe illness due to oxygen deprivation, same thing with the clotting that occurs (and is the case in any sort of severe pneumonia.)

Mild cases don't often have much complications, but this constant barrage of of alarmist, sensationalist doomsday stuff from the media is taking a toll on everybody's mental health.

I can attest to this re:mental health.

I suffer from anxiety and it’s been one mental barrage after another since 2020. It feels like we’re never getting better, even when we are.

[Inmate Trump]

What exactly are "mild" symptoms?  Is it basically just anything short of being in the hospital?

[Inmate Trump]

Moderna says their booster increases antibody protection 37-fold.

Does that mean protection is just 37%?

Sorry, I’m an idiot who needs a dumbed down explanation.

[Inmate Trump]

Moderna says their booster increases antibody protection 37-fold.

Does that mean protection is just 37%?

Sorry, I’m an idiot who needs a dumbed down explanation.

It means that the average amount of antibodies found in someone who has had a booster is 37 times larger than in someone who has had just the first two shots.

So basically it’s not as powerful as the initial 2-dose shot was against the earlier strains but it’s still pretty good?

[Inmate Trump]

The above graphic is promising but I’d also urge caution until a few more weeks have passed so we can see a clear indication of fewer deaths.


Deaths lag.

[Inmate Trump]

The above graphic is promising but I’d also urge caution until a few more weeks have passed so we can see a clear indication of fewer deaths.


Deaths lag.

Deaths lag by about two weeks. It has been four.

Cases are also rapidly declining in South Africa. We would have known if hospitals were overwhelmed and people were dying in the streets like India in April.

It's like people are deliberately avoiding good news.

I'm convinced there is a segment of society (not Trump virus necessarily) who preferred living in COVID mode. They actually enjoyed the isolation and staying at home, they want the "new normal" to continue forever. These are the types of people who are fine with eternal masking but won't get vaccinated or don't think the vaccines are effective. They are incredibly misanthropic, and a bigger threat than the Trumpers who won't vax or mask. At least the latter group is out of COVID mode

I know you stated you weren't speaking of me necessarily, but I just want to point out that I have absolutely abhorred daily life over the last 2 years.  I want no more part of a covid-world.  I have slowly started to put away the mask (in certain situations) and I don't do social distancing anymore.  Having said that, I am still a nervous wreck about covid (and concerned about omicron) and I intend to wait and see how things go with the supposed upcoming wave.

EDIT: I meant to add also....I don't think it's unreasonable to approach new variants with an abundance of caution.  If covid has taught us anything, it's to expect the unexpected.  That's the approach I'm going with until things ultimately settle down (which I'm aware may be a while).  I'm not pushing that on others...they can feel free to do whatever they want.  But that's how I need to act in order to keep my own sanity over germs and sh**t.

[Inmate Trump]

Please get vaccinated! I really do think I would be in the hospital about to die if I didn't get the vaccine.

What are you symptoms?

Which vaccine did you get?

Which booster did you get and how long has it been?

[Inmate Trump]

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10337845/Enormous-spread-Omicron-cause-140-MILLION-new-infections-January-1-March-1.html

Omicron wave will crash on US with 60% of people infected by March and 140 MILLION new infections - but 90% will never show symptoms

IHME projections have been updated and they look scary, but this article explains that most will be asymptomatic. Still scary prospects but hopeful too?

[Inmate Trump]

I remember when Delta began people here were saying it would be the last big wave.

Now we have Omicron, which makes everything before it pale in comparison.

So what reason do we have to believe there won’t be a variant behind Omicron that will not only be more infectious but also cause more serious illness and more death?  I’m not dooming so stfu about “dOoMeRs”…I am legit curious if there’s actually any reason to think we won’t have to deal with worsening variants even after Omicron.

[Inmate Trump]

I don't see the problem.

Obviously everyone is completely and totally free to do whatever they like.

It's the *job* of the experts to advise us on the safest course of action.  We can abide by their guidelines, or not.  If these same people didn't advise appropriate caution in the face of rising cases and disease, that'd be extremely horrible of them.  They're simply doing their job to tell us the safest course.