COVID-19 Megathread 6: Return of the Omicron

[Hammy]

https://twitter.com/asosin/status/1554825979255832576?s=20&t=UE6ZBf8xaZatcR6...

https://twitter.com/mims/status/1553794492733554694?s=20&t=_M1dv1Jou-Ozuy3Eh...

Most of them are just hypochondriacs.

The fact that it almost always seems that liberals get sicker with covid proves it.

You've lost your mind and are getting as bad with this as the cons with election denial.  And the bold is patently false.

It might be true about "long covid" (which I suspect is largely psychosomatic).  Most people I know have had covid at least once (many twice), and the only "long covid" I know of anyone having is loss of smell (and that's confined to people who had it in 2020).

Long covid is certainly real and mostly tends to involve milder symptoms, rather than anything life-threatening.

But that said, I think it shows we need to have a larger cultural discussion around both mental health impacts of any sort of illness, and how debilitating even 'mild' illnesses can have. One of the primary lingering effects of covid is fatigue (and it's quite likely it can lead to chronic fatigue syndrome) along with sinus problems, something I can say as an allergy sufferer can knock you out of commission--and when they wear you out, they also lead to mental fatigue.

Even with a cold for instance, even though they're not dangerous, the fatigue alone can make it hard to sustain energy for work-related tasks and make mistakes more likely.

[Fmr. Gov. NickG]

https://twitter.com/asosin/status/1554825979255832576?s=20&t=UE6ZBf8xaZatcR6...

I’m not going to read this article, but the claim that we don’t have “aspiractions to reduce the death toll” of covid seems fundamentally false to me. Isn’t reducing the death toll what the development of variant-specific vaccines is designed to do?

[Raccoon]

https://twitter.com/asosin/status/1554825979255832576?s=20&t=UE6ZBf8xaZatcR6...

https://twitter.com/mims/status/1553794492733554694?s=20&t=_M1dv1Jou-Ozuy3Eh...

Most of them are just hypochondriacs.

The fact that it almost always seems that liberals get sicker with covid proves it.

You've lost your mind and are getting as bad with this as the cons with election denial.  And the bold is patently false.

It might be true about "long covid" (which I suspect is largely psychosomatic).  Most people I know have had covid at least once (many twice), and the only "long covid" I know of anyone having is loss of smell (and that's confined to people who had it in 2020).

All the covid people who are always frantic and worried about covid are usually 1) the ones who get really sick because of psychological reasons or 2) are the ones least likely to be exposed to it.


Truth is most covid deaths are accompanied by another issue. Know the risks and do what you need to do to protect yourself. Get boosted, wear a n95 mask if appropriate, etc. Do not expect the rest of the world to live in their homes forever without ever leaving their house.

[Aurelius]

Many school districts are reinstituting MASK mandates as the school year is about to start. Sad.

So are the national parks.

END THE NATIONAL PARK MASK MANDATE! BURN YOUR MASK! It is not a MASK it is a MUZZLE

[Zohranism is OUR future]

Someone reading this thread would be very confused by sudden the D-CO change if they didn’t pay attention to the usernames.

[Raccoon]

Many school districts are reinstituting MASK mandates as the school year is about to start. Sad.

So are the national parks.

END THE NATIONAL PARK MASK MANDATE! BURN YOUR MASK! It is not a MASK it is a MUZZLE

Yes... BBUUURRRNNNN THEM ...

It's my birthday today and it would have been a great present if Biden announced a ban on mask mandates nation wide for my birthday .

I know Utah national parks are requiring masks sadly.

[100% pro-life no matter what]

Many school districts are reinstituting MASK mandates as the school year is about to start. Sad.

So are the national parks.

END THE NATIONAL PARK MASK MANDATE! BURN YOUR MASK! It is not a MASK it is a MUZZLE

Yes... BBUUURRRNNNN THEM ...

It's my birthday today and it would have been a great present if Biden announced a ban on mask mandates nation wide for my birthday .

I know Utah national parks are requiring masks sadly.

The airplane mask mandate got lifted on my birthday.  I believe the National Parks one is tied to the CDC level in the county.  I was super lucky that the weekend I went to Saint Louis (the Arch is actually a National Park) was during the one week since mid-June that St. Louis was in "yellow" instead of "red".

I actually think this Thursday's update is going to see a lot of red counties go down to yellow, with cases falling nationwide, so I wouldn't assume that places will stay that way.

[Raccoon]

Many school districts are reinstituting MASK mandates as the school year is about to start. Sad.

So are the national parks.

END THE NATIONAL PARK MASK MANDATE! BURN YOUR MASK! It is not a MASK it is a MUZZLE

Yes... BBUUURRRNNNN THEM ...

It's my birthday today and it would have been a great present if Biden announced a ban on mask mandates nation wide for my birthday .

I know Utah national parks are requiring masks sadly.

The airplane mask mandate got lifted on my birthday.  I believe the National Parks one is tied to the CDC level in the county.  I was super lucky that the weekend I went to Saint Louis (the Arch is actually a National Park) was during the one week since mid-June that St. Louis was in "orange" instead of "red".

I actually think this Thursday's update is going to see a lot of red counties go down to orange, with cases falling nationwide, so I wouldn't assume that places will stay that way.

The arch being a national park is bullsh**t. There are places in Missouri that would qualify as national parks, but not the damn Arch, and I am a native St. Louisian.

On the days St. Louis was flooding, the post dispatch had stories about covid in the area.

[Raccoon]

Like I said closing schools was bullsh**t.

But I understand why many liberals were concerned about kids getting sick with covid. People naturally want to watch out for kids. But the school closing hysteria was not backed by science!

Between teachers of Virginia, unemployment workers, DMV workers, etc.. the biggest shock to me of Virginia was it having ridiculous and horribly government employees. Wouldn't have expected it in a state like that.

https://www.dailypress.net/news/local-news/2022/08/i-didnt-really-learn-anything-covid-grads-face-college/

Algebra got little of his attention, but his teachers kept giving him good grades amid a school-wide push for leniency.

“It was like school was optional. It wasn’t a mandatory thing,” said Hope, 18, of Milwaukee. “I feel like I didn’t really learn anything.”

learning math and science online.. lol.......... will not work.

[Frodo]

It looks like we are slowly moving into Camp 5:

https://twitter.com/NYTHealth/status/1557921319047643136

[Raccoon]

It looks like we are slowly moving into Camp 5:

https://twitter.com/NYTHealth/status/1557921319047643136

They are way behind the times. it is the saddest part of modern day humanity how we all over reacted to an over hyped virus.

[emailking]

First lady Dr. Jill Biden tests positive for Covid-19

First lady Dr. Jill Biden has tested positive for Covid-19 and is experiencing mild symptoms, her spokesperson said Tuesday.

“After testing negative for Covid-19 on Monday during her regular testing cadence, the First Lady began to develop cold-like symptoms late in the evening. She tested negative again on a rapid antigen test, but a PCR test came back positive,” said Elizabeth Alexander, her communications director.

The first lady, who is double vaccinated and twice boosted, is taking Paxlovid, Pfizer’s antiviral drug, per Alexander.

https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/16/politics/jill-biden-covid/index.html

[Raccoon]

First lady Dr. Jill Biden tests positive for Covid-19

First lady Dr. Jill Biden has tested positive for Covid-19 and is experiencing mild symptoms, her spokesperson said Tuesday.

“After testing negative for Covid-19 on Monday during her regular testing cadence, the First Lady began to develop cold-like symptoms late in the evening. She tested negative again on a rapid antigen test, but a PCR test came back positive,” said Elizabeth Alexander, her communications director.

The first lady, who is double vaccinated and twice boosted, is taking Paxlovid, Pfizer’s antiviral drug, per Alexander.

https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/16/politics/jill-biden-covid/index.html

lol I hope she recovers, but this is not really "news".


This is news:

https://www.washingtonpolicy.org/publications/detail/study-reveals-washington-states-school-closure-policy-caused-learning-loss-life-long-harms

Rather than advancing students a grade based on their actual gains in learning, in 2021 education officials essentially extended social promotion to all 1.1 million public school children.

Research shows many students suffered long-term learning loss and psychological and emotional harm due to the governor’s extended school closure policy

State test scores show public schools failed to adequately educate 70 percent of students in math and 52 percent of students in English.

Low-income students were most severely affected, with 8,700 fewer such students applying for state-funded college scholarships.

Researchers warned closing schools would inflict student harm “that could last a lifetime,” especially for low-income Hispanic and black students, increasing achievement gaps by 15-20 percent.
 
Washington public schools received operating funding at the highest levels in history during the COVID crisis, despite school closures.

In June of 2020, researchers at McKinsey and Company warned that two to nine percent of high school students would drop out, and that U.S. students may lose, on average, a year’s worth of full-time work in lifetime earnings as a result of COVID-relating learning losses.

Researchers at Brown University found a 23 percent drop in IQ for very young children caused by  mandated mask and social distancing requirements.

The mandate policy that closed schools long term caused many children with special needs to regress and lose what they had learned in the past.

Isolating teenagers from social contact with peers for nearly two years increased their levels of anxiety and stress, problems which may persist with long-term consequences.

[emailking]

No it's definitely news.

[Progressive Pessimist]

First lady Dr. Jill Biden tests positive for Covid-19

First lady Dr. Jill Biden has tested positive for Covid-19 and is experiencing mild symptoms, her spokesperson said Tuesday.

“After testing negative for Covid-19 on Monday during her regular testing cadence, the First Lady began to develop cold-like symptoms late in the evening. She tested negative again on a rapid antigen test, but a PCR test came back positive,” said Elizabeth Alexander, her communications director.

The first lady, who is double vaccinated and twice boosted, is taking Paxlovid, Pfizer’s antiviral drug, per Alexander.

https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/16/politics/jill-biden-covid/index.html

Let's remember that after Biden got COVID everything started to change in his favor. Imagine how much more this will bring out of Dark Brandon!

Serious response: I wish her a speedy recovery.

[Pericles]

It looks like we are slowly moving into Camp 5:

https://twitter.com/NYTHealth/status/1557921319047643136

They are way behind the times. it is the saddest part of modern day humanity how we all over reacted to an over hyped virus.

It killed a million Americans, killed thousands every day at the peak and brought the healthcare system to its knees. People were right to make sacrifices to protect their loved ones and their community. Now that the science has changed, it is not as big of a threat. It should be obvious thought that restrictions and behaviour changes were the right response to a dangerous pandemic that we had no vaccines and treatments for.

[Bandit3 the Worker]

In the past couple weeks, cases have been going back down again, and it's pretty steep too.

Also, the CDC said last week that 95% of Americans have immunity now. We're way past the herd immunity threshold, which was estimated to be 70% at the highest.

[Joe Biden 2028]

In the past couple weeks, cases have been going back down again, and it's pretty steep too.

Also, the CDC said last week that 95% of Americans have immunity now. We're way past the herd immunity threshold, which was estimated to be 70% at the highest.

Yet Louisville school are still requiring masks wtf

[emailking]

In the past couple weeks, cases have been going back down again, and it's pretty steep too.

Also, the CDC said last week that 95% of Americans have immunity now. We're way past the herd immunity threshold, which was estimated to be 70% at the highest.

But you need a higher threshold when the virus goes from moderately contagious to the most contagious disease in history.

[Bandit3 the Worker]

In the past couple weeks, cases have been going back down again, and it's pretty steep too.

Also, the CDC said last week that 95% of Americans have immunity now. We're way past the herd immunity threshold, which was estimated to be 70% at the highest.

But you need a higher threshold when the virus goes from moderately contagious to the most contagious disease in history.

Even with measles, the herd immunity threshold is only 95%.

We can't keep moving the goalposts just to justify mask mandates. There's really no goalposts left. Vaccines are available down to the age of 6 months, so what other goalposts are there?

[emailking]

Dude what I'm saying is the whole field moved. We don't have herd immunity. That's just a fact. People are getting sick all the time. Who cares if 70% immunity in 2020 would have eradicated the virus? I'm telling you why we don't have herd immunity at 95%. The immunity people have to measles is stronger too.

[Frodo]

That Omicron-specific booster shot towards the end of the year could be the last one directly funded by the federal government:

Biden Administration Plans for End of Covid-19 Shot, Treatment Coverage

The Biden administration is planning for an end to its practice of paying for Covid-19 shots and treatments, shifting more control of pricing and coverage to the healthcare industry in ways that could generate sales for companies—and costs for consumers—for years to come.

The Department of Health and Human Services plans to hold a planning session on Aug. 30 that will bring together representatives from drugmakers, pharmacies and state health departments with a stake in a Covid-19 treatment industry.

Both the Trump and Biden administrations always planned to shift the bill for Covid-19 shots and treatments from the federal government to individuals eventually. With Covid-19 cases dropping, more activities resuming and funding for the pandemic response running short, officials are now working to map out that transition.

Shifting payments for Covid-19 drugs and vaccines to the commercial market is expected to take months, an HHS spokesman said. At the meeting this month, officials and company representatives will discuss reimbursement and coverage, regulatory issues and access to vaccines and treatment for the uninsured.

[100% pro-life no matter what]

Dude what I'm saying is the whole field moved. We don't have herd immunity. That's just a fact. People are getting sick all the time. Who cares if 70% immunity in 2020 would have eradicated the virus? I'm telling you why we don't have herd immunity at 95%. The immunity people have to measles is stronger too.

With the original virus, there were two competing strategies- herd immunity and elimination.  The big issue was that a lot of the world went with the worst of both worlds.  The other thing is that the vaccine was actually incredibly good at stopping transmission of the original virus.

The initial success of the vaccine allowed herd immunity to again become a viable goal in 2021.  By the beginning of summer, a combination of vaccine-derived and natural immunity got cases down to next to nothing, and we were probably on track for herd immunity-derived elimination.

However, then the Delta variant arrived in late June/early July 2021.  At first, the focus was on the increased transmissability, but the bigger factor was that it could penetrate vaccine-derived immunity.  Had it simply been more contagious, it would have just been a brief bump as we waited for a new herd immunity level, but that wasn't the main factor.  I strongly suspect I might have had Delta in late August 2021 after avoiding it for close to a year and a half.

Then, Omicron came along in December 2021, which was both incredibly contagious and could evade both types of immunity.  Given the relative mildness of the infection, the vast majority of places allowed it to just rip through the population.  A few weeks later, Omicron peaked and then began the most rapid fall in cases we saw at any point during covid.  This was a manifestation of herd immunity because most people had Omicron (many probably mildly enough that they never knew).  By late March, for the second time, cases were approaching nothing.  The only reason it didn't last was that natural immunity from the Omicron variant isn't long lasting and neutralizing.

On the other hand, we have really reached the end game because, while no one is completely immune (with the possible exception of people who just recovered), virtually everyone is partially immune.  We were twice approaching actual herd immunity- once in June 2021 and once in March/April 2022- but things changed.  Still, we have reached what appears to be a long lasting effective herd immunity.  A combination of a weakened virus with partial immunity for most of us has lead to positive tests being just that- without any of the more serious consequences.

All of this tells us that the "SARS-COV-2" virus will never be eradicated, but it is also completely disingenuous to say that we are currently in a pandemic.  I still think a strategy of getting herd immunity through never leaving full normalcy in 2020 could have worked and eventually eradicated the virus, as could have super draconian lockdowns in February 2020 (before the virus took hold).  Neither of those were tried, and we got a bit of bad luck with a new variant barely beating herd immunity in mid-2021.  If we all tested ourselves forever, we'd probably all test positive for covid a couple times a year, but it's now just one of many cold and flu viruses that always have existed in the background (and unfortunately have always killed a statistically small number of people).  That's just a different form of herd immunity.

[Trump Is A Maoist]

Dude what I'm saying is the whole field moved. We don't have herd immunity. That's just a fact. People are getting sick all the time. Who cares if 70% immunity in 2020 would have eradicated the virus? I'm telling you why we don't have herd immunity at 95%. The immunity people have to measles is stronger too.

With the original virus, there were two competing strategies- herd immunity and elimination.  The big issue was that a lot of the world went with the worst of both worlds.  The other thing is that the vaccine was actually incredibly good at stopping transmission of the original virus.

The initial success of the vaccine allowed herd immunity to again become a viable goal in 2021.  By the beginning of summer, a combination of vaccine-derived and natural immunity got cases down to next to nothing, and we were probably on track for herd immunity-derived elimination.

No actual non-schill scientists were advocating for herd immunity as a "strategy"... the time duration and effectiveness of the immunity you got from getting COVID or a vaccine were not clear, and the dangers to long-term health and to life itself were too high for reasonably experts to recommend that herd immunity was a real option. Right wing media, COVID conspiracy theorists and ivermectin takers were advocating for it, but it was never an ACTUAL solution to the problem.

[Bandit3 the Worker]

The general consensus among real scientists is that we should have just followed the Great Barrington Declaration.