COVID-19 Megathread 6: Return of the Omicron

[T'Chenka]

It's not a big deal. I didn't even understand what RR was getting at. I didn't even notice it lol

I didn't notice it either. It's a phrase that makes 100% sense and doesn't stick out like a sore thumb in a sentence. I think once people see it used more and more often, it will quickly be something that people don't even notice as out of the ordinary anymore. Something akin to people saying "East Asian" instead of "oriental". It just seems normal after a while.

Cultural conservatives will turn it into the next "it's MERRY CHRISTMAS not HAPPY HOLIDAYS" thing, which will be fun.

[Frodo]

The two main reasons for why we made it through relatively unscathed this winter -we have pretty much achieved (hard-won) herd immunity by this point both because of mass vaccinations and prior infections, and the sub-variants we have seen popping up thus far are all descended from the original omicron variant:

https://twitter.com/AmeshAA/status/1631676067017572353

[emailking]

the sub-variants we have seen popping up thus far are all descended from the original omicron variant:

Isn't all Covid in the wild descended from Omicron? I thought it completely pushed Delta out.

[Bandit3 the Worker]

the sub-variants we have seen popping up thus far are all descended from the original omicron variant:

Isn't all Covid in the wild descended from Omicron? I thought it completely pushed Delta out.

There probably are a few cases out there caused by Delta and other earlier variants, since there's still a few deaths occurring.

[Frodo]

The Biden administration has clearly given up on getting any extra COVID funding, especially with Republicans controlling the House:

The latest sign the White House Covid operations are winding down? Its proposed budget

President Joe Biden is not expected to seek significant new Covid funding as part of his forthcoming budget proposal, the latest sign that the White House is preparing to wind down its emergency response operation later this year.

The move comes as Biden has insisted that the public health crisis is under control, and amid a broader administration shift toward new priorities aimed at bolstering the post-pandemic economy and lowering consumer costs.

The White House proposal, which is scheduled for release Thursday, is expected to drop a call Biden made last year for tens of billions of dollars to fuel the ongoing crisis response, including purchasing more vaccines and treatments, three people familiar with the matter told POLITICO.

The budget may also leave out the administration’s prior request for new funding to jumpstart research aimed at developing the next generation of Covid vaccines and therapeutics. Health officials are currently discussing whether there’s existing money that can be reallocated toward the project.

The White House’s Office of Management and Budget declined to comment, and the people familiar with the matter cautioned that the details of the budget proposal were not finalized and could still change.

[Frodo]

Long-covid symptoms are less common now than earlier in the pandemic

Americans infected with the coronavirus’s omicron variant are less likely to develop symptoms typical of long covid than those who had covid-19 earlier in the pandemic, according to the largest-ever study of who is most vulnerable to being sickened — or debilitated — by the virus’s lingering effects.

The analysis of nearly 5 million U.S. patients who had covid, a study based on a collaboration between The Washington Post and research partners, shows that 1 in 16 people with omicron received medical care for symptoms associated with long covid within several months of being infected. Patients exposed to the coronavirus during the first wave of pandemic illness — from early 2020 to late spring 2021 — were most prone to develop long covid, with 1 in 12 suffering persistent symptoms.

This pattern mirrors what leading doctors who treat long covid — and some scientists who study it — have noticed as the coronavirus pandemic evolves. But the reasons they offer for the shifting rates are closer to conjecture than to proof.

“Long covid is a complicated beast,” said Ziyad Al-Aly, director of the Clinical Epidemiology Center at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and a major researcher into the phenomenon.

[MasterJedi]

Difference between being vaccinated (myself, four total, last in December) and not (my wife who had a rare shoulder nerve reaction to the third one and can’t have anymore) is remarkable. I felt like crap for half a day and am now fully back to normal. Wife got knocked on her ass again like when we first had it back in December of 2020. It can still be nasty folks. Get vaccinated if you can.

[nfvlmv]

I think that we closed too early and opened too early.

[Pres Mike]

I think that we closed too early and opened too early.

I dont think we should have ever closed down. Its amazing how red states were open safely while blue states like California were locked down for an extra two years. To the point that even their own residents wanted to end the restrictions and mask mandates.

I am a Democrats but when it came to pandemic response the Republicans did it right.

[cg41386]

Nobody was "locked down." That phrase is so annoying when used incorrectly. The GOP response was reckless in some states, we didn't know exactly what we were dealing with for quite a while.

[Bandit3 the Worker]

Nobody was "locked down."

What about those 2 months back in the spring of 2020?

[cg41386]

You were allowed to leave your home, nobody arrested you and forced you to stay in your home. Restrictions were necessary while we figured out what was going on and how bad things were.

[Property Representative of the Harold Holt Swimming Centre]

You were allowed to leave your home, nobody arrested you and forced you to stay in your home. Restrictions were necessary while we figured out what was going on and how bad things were.

Unconditionally?

[cg41386]

You were allowed to leave your home, nobody arrested you and forced you to stay in your home. Restrictions were necessary while we figured out what was going on and how bad things were.

Unconditionally?

I literally said there were (necessary, at the time) restrictions in that post.

[Ferguson97]

Nobody was "locked down."

What about those 2 months back in the spring of 2020?

Two months three years ago, and you guys have been acting like we're living under a totalitarian dictatorship ever since.

[Pres Mike]

Nobody was "locked down."

What about those 2 months back in the spring of 2020?

Two months three years ago, and you guys have been acting like we're living under a totalitarian dictatorship ever since.

Mask mandates were totalitarian

[Crumpets]

Nobody was "locked down."

What about those 2 months back in the spring of 2020?

I flew across the country on April 7th, 2020 without hassle (or even a mask). We use "lockdown" colloquially because nothing was open to go do, and most people chose to stay home vs aimlessly wander empty streets with shuttered businesses, but it was never a true "lockdown" like in some countries.

[Ferguson97]

Nobody was "locked down."

What about those 2 months back in the spring of 2020?

Two months three years ago, and you guys have been acting like we're living under a totalitarian dictatorship ever since.

Mask mandates were totalitarian

No they weren't. Keep crying about it.

[Pres Mike]

Nobody was "locked down."

What about those 2 months back in the spring of 2020?

Two months three years ago, and you guys have been acting like we're living under a totalitarian dictatorship ever since.

Mask mandates were totalitarian

No they weren't. Keep crying about it.

I'm not the one crying. Its the blue hair people on Twitter who were crying when red states moved away from masks. Two years later when blue states moved away from masks because of public outcry, it was the blue hair people on reddit crying.

[Ferguson97]

Nobody was "locked down."

What about those 2 months back in the spring of 2020?

Two months three years ago, and you guys have been acting like we're living under a totalitarian dictatorship ever since.

Mask mandates were totalitarian

No they weren't. Keep crying about it.

I'm not the one crying. Its the blue hair people on Twitter who were crying when red states moved away from masks. Two years later when blue states moved away from masks because of public outcry, it was the blue hair people on reddit crying.

Your side tried to kidnap the Governor of Michigan because they had to get takeout from Arby's instead of going into the restaurant.

[Pres Mike]

Nobody was "locked down."

What about those 2 months back in the spring of 2020?

Two months three years ago, and you guys have been acting like we're living under a totalitarian dictatorship ever since.

Mask mandates were totalitarian

No they weren't. Keep crying about it.

I'm not the one crying. Its the blue hair people on Twitter who were crying when red states moved away from masks. Two years later when blue states moved away from masks because of public outcry, it was the blue hair people on reddit crying.

Your side tried to kidnap the Governor of Michigan because they had to get takeout from Arby's instead of going into the restaurant.

I am a proud Democrat and a fan of Governor Whitmer. In fact, I think she is the best possible canididate in 2028 to succede Biden

[Ferguson97]

Nobody was "locked down."

What about those 2 months back in the spring of 2020?

Two months three years ago, and you guys have been acting like we're living under a totalitarian dictatorship ever since.

Mask mandates were totalitarian

No they weren't. Keep crying about it.

I'm not the one crying. Its the blue hair people on Twitter who were crying when red states moved away from masks. Two years later when blue states moved away from masks because of public outcry, it was the blue hair people on reddit crying.

Your side tried to kidnap the Governor of Michigan because they had to get takeout from Arby's instead of going into the restaurant.

I am a proud Democrat and a fan of Governor Whitmer. In fact, I think she is the best possible canididate in 2028 to succede Biden

By "your side" I don't mean Democrat vs Republican, I mean liberal vs conservative.

[Pres Mike]

Nobody was "locked down."

What about those 2 months back in the spring of 2020?

Two months three years ago, and you guys have been acting like we're living under a totalitarian dictatorship ever since.

Mask mandates were totalitarian

No they weren't. Keep crying about it.

I'm not the one crying. Its the blue hair people on Twitter who were crying when red states moved away from masks. Two years later when blue states moved away from masks because of public outcry, it was the blue hair people on reddit crying.

Your side tried to kidnap the Governor of Michigan because they had to get takeout from Arby's instead of going into the restaurant.

I am a proud Democrat and a fan of Governor Whitmer. In fact, I think she is the best possible canididate in 2028 to succede Biden

By "your side" I don't mean Democrat vs Republican, I mean liberal vs conservative.

I am a progressive. I supported Bernie Sanders

[Ferguson97]

Nobody was "locked down."

What about those 2 months back in the spring of 2020?

Two months three years ago, and you guys have been acting like we're living under a totalitarian dictatorship ever since.

Mask mandates were totalitarian

No they weren't. Keep crying about it.

I'm not the one crying. Its the blue hair people on Twitter who were crying when red states moved away from masks. Two years later when blue states moved away from masks because of public outcry, it was the blue hair people on reddit crying.

Your side tried to kidnap the Governor of Michigan because they had to get takeout from Arby's instead of going into the restaurant.

I am a proud Democrat and a fan of Governor Whitmer. In fact, I think she is the best possible canididate in 2028 to succede Biden

By "your side" I don't mean Democrat vs Republican, I mean liberal vs conservative.

I am a progressive. I supported Bernie Sanders

Lots of hippies became Republicans later in life.

[Pres Mike]

Nobody was "locked down."

What about those 2 months back in the spring of 2020?

Two months three years ago, and you guys have been acting like we're living under a totalitarian dictatorship ever since.

Mask mandates were totalitarian

No they weren't. Keep crying about it.

I'm not the one crying. Its the blue hair people on Twitter who were crying when red states moved away from masks. Two years later when blue states moved away from masks because of public outcry, it was the blue hair people on reddit crying.

Your side tried to kidnap the Governor of Michigan because they had to get takeout from Arby's instead of going into the restaurant.

I am a proud Democrat and a fan of Governor Whitmer. In fact, I think she is the best possible canididate in 2028 to succede Biden

By "your side" I don't mean Democrat vs Republican, I mean liberal vs conservative.

I am a progressive. I supported Bernie Sanders

Lots of hippies became Republicans later in life.

Do you think masks mandates should have been universally optional during the Delta Surge of 2021?