COVID-19 Megathread 6: Return of the Omicron

[leonardothered]

2022 is going to feel so weird, because it will be the year everything is finally returned to "normal". Although the handshake is probably dead and masks might just become a regular fashion thing.

Thank you, President Biden.

Way earlier than that. Probably this summer.

What he means is that 2022 will be the first year entirely in the "post-Covid" era, with everything back at normal-so far as normal can possibly be devised. The pandemic will have a permanent impact upon some aspects of society. It has accelerated the death of the traditional movie theater industry, and has put a dent into the bottom-line of museums and other such entertainment venues. Schools, although resuming in-person instruction, will probably incorporate more technology into their curriculums going forward. Masks will be worn by some people during flu season, and the stigma which they had prior to the pandemic will be gone. And I think people will be more cognizant of their health then they were before.

Well summarized.

Biden kicked ass in the address. I doubt we'll have anyone like Obama in our lifetime as a effective a speaker, but it was very well done. I don't know what is making the difference between these speeches and some of the others that have more fumbles, but he's certainly answering the call of duty during the most urgent hours.

[Pericles]

Another great thing about Biden's speech is that people now have May 1 and July 4 dates for when normal life might return, so there is light at the end of the tunnel. Hopefully that deflates the rush to reopen right now and reminds people not to endanger their loved ones just before they can be saved.

[Holmes]

Just got a surprise e-mail from Wisconsin Public Health! I'm getting my vaccine dose tomorrow. I'll have to drive 45 minutes to get to the clinic with the surplus supply, but it's well worth the drive.

Yup. I’m going to San Francisco today for it, so I need to take the afternoon off, take an hour long ferry ride and then a 30 minute walk, but it’s fine.

[Fmr. Gov. NickG]

Another great thing about Biden's speech is that people now have May 1 and July 4 dates for when normal life might return, so there is light at the end of the tunnel. Hopefully that deflates the rush to reopen right now and reminds people not to endanger their loved ones just before they can be saved.

I don't understand the logic of the July 4 date for "small groups" to get together.  The CDC has already said that vaccinated people can get together in small groups right now, and a lot people even criticized that for being to conservative.

If Biden's vaccine timeline is indeed realistic, he should be targeting Memorial Day for this sort of event.

And once everyone who wants to be vaccinated is vaccinated, why limit it to small groups? Why any limits whatsoever?  Why not name an official national "Lick A Stranger's Face Day"?  Kind of like The Purge, but for sexual harassment only.

[LabourJersey]

Another great thing about Biden's speech is that people now have May 1 and July 4 dates for when normal life might return, so there is light at the end of the tunnel. Hopefully that deflates the rush to reopen right now and reminds people not to endanger their loved ones just before they can be saved.

I don't understand the logic of the July 4 date for "small groups" to get together.  The CDC has already said that vaccinated people can get together in small groups right now, and a lot people even criticized that for being to conservative.

If Biden's vaccine timeline is indeed realistic, he should be targeting Memorial Day for this sort of event.

And once everyone who wants to be vaccinated is vaccinated, why limit it to small groups? Why any limits whatsoever?  Why not name an official national "Lick A Stranger's Face Day"?  Kind of like The Purge, but for sexual harassment only.

I mean, it's pretty darn obvious why he doesn't want people to think "everything will be amazing by Memorial Day."

There's still a small chance that there could be some SNAFU with getting people vaccinated, like Texas opening prematurely and sparking a ton of cases.

Also under-promising and over-delivering is pretty much always better than the reverse.

[Sir Mohamed]

Another great thing about Biden's speech is that people now have May 1 and July 4 dates for when normal life might return, so there is light at the end of the tunnel. Hopefully that deflates the rush to reopen right now and reminds people not to endanger their loved ones just before they can be saved.

I don't understand the logic of the July 4 date for "small groups" to get together.  The CDC has already said that vaccinated people can get together in small groups right now, and a lot people even criticized that for being to conservative.

If Biden's vaccine timeline is indeed realistic, he should be targeting Memorial Day for this sort of event.

And once everyone who wants to be vaccinated is vaccinated, why limit it to small groups? Why any limits whatsoever?  Why not name an official national "Lick A Stranger's Face Day"?  Kind of like The Purge, but for sexual harassment only.

I mean, it's pretty darn obvious why he doesn't want people to think "everything will be amazing by Memorial Day."

There's still a small chance that there could be some SNAFU with getting people vaccinated, like Texas opening prematurely and sparking a ton of cases.

Also under-promising and over-delivering is pretty much always better than the reverse.

Agree completely. What's still a potential risk here are other variants of the virus emerging elsewhere. So far all the (approved) vaccines are effective against difference variants like UK or South Africa version, but may not be the case with future mutations. America and other rich countries must make sure vaccination programs are distributed to poorer nations as well to minimize the risk for new variants. Otherwise, vaccination program would have to start from 0 again once vaccines are modified. Latter isn't a huge deal from a medical standpoint, though, only from a logistical point of view.

[emailking]

And once everyone who wants to be vaccinated is vaccinated, why limit it to small groups? Why any limits whatsoever?  

Because it might not be herd immunity and people who don't want to be vaccinated can still get sick and die, as can the 5-40% of those for whom the vaccine is not effective.

[Fmr. Gov. NickG]

And once everyone who wants to be vaccinated is vaccinated, why limit it to small groups? Why any limits whatsoever?  

Because it might not be herd immunity and people who don't want to be vaccinated can still get sick and die, as can the 5-40% of those for whom the vaccine is not effective.

The vaccines have been shown to be basically 100% effective against death and hospitalization.  People who don't want to take it and want to die from covid instead should feel free to die from covid if that is their choice.

[LabourJersey]

And once everyone who wants to be vaccinated is vaccinated, why limit it to small groups? Why any limits whatsoever?  

Because it might not be herd immunity and people who don't want to be vaccinated can still get sick and die, as can the 5-40% of those for whom the vaccine is not effective.

The vaccines have been shown to be basically 100% effective against death and hospitalization.  People who don't want to take it and want to die from covid instead should feel free to die from covid if that is their choice.

But there's still a ton of people who want the vaccine but can't get it for at least another month or two--shouldn't we wait for them too?

[Fmr. Gov. NickG]

And once everyone who wants to be vaccinated is vaccinated, why limit it to small groups? Why any limits whatsoever?  

Because it might not be herd immunity and people who don't want to be vaccinated can still get sick and die, as can the 5-40% of those for whom the vaccine is not effective.

The vaccines have been shown to be basically 100% effective against death and hospitalization.  People who don't want to take it and want to die from covid instead should feel free to die from covid if that is their choice.

But there's still a ton of people who want the vaccine but can't get it for at least another month or two--shouldn't we wait for them too?

Right, which is why I said "once everyone who wants to be vaccinated is vaccinated..." But it sounds like this should really only take until the end of May.

[QAnonKelly]

I’m waiting right now to get my shot and somehow I think I’m the only person in this line to have been born in the ‘90s.

[Holmes]

I’m waiting right now to get my shot and somehow I think I’m the only person in this line to have been born in the ‘90s.

My shot is in a couple of hours. I wonder if I'll feel the same.

[QAnonKelly]

I’m waiting right now to get my shot and somehow I think I’m the only person in this line to have been born in the ‘90s.

My shot is in a couple of hours. I wonder if I'll feel the same.

The lady who’s in front of me keeps looking at me weird like I’m not supposed to be here. I’m a teacher, I swear I’m eligible.

[GeorgiaModerate]

I’m waiting right now to get my shot and somehow I think I’m the only person in this line to have been born in the ‘90s.

My shot is in a couple of hours. I wonder if I'll feel the same.

The lady who’s in front of me keeps looking at me weird like I’m not supposed to be here. I’m a teacher, I swear I’m eligible.

Start up a conversation and tell her you're so excited to be getting the shot so you can get back in front of your students.

[Bandit3 the Worker]

Well, I did get my first Pfizer shot today. I'm not very old, but I was able to get it because of heart and kidney disease.

[emailking]

And once everyone who wants to be vaccinated is vaccinated, why limit it to small groups? Why any limits whatsoever?  

Because it might not be herd immunity and people who don't want to be vaccinated can still get sick and die, as can the 5-40% of those for whom the vaccine is not effective.

The vaccines have been shown to be basically 100% effective against death and hospitalization.  People who don't want to take it and want to die from covid instead should feel free to die from covid if that is their choice.

You may have a point, but that's why there will be limits.

[Inmate Trump]

If covid turns out to be endemic, like many of thinking now, what exactly will that mean for our way of life going forward?  Are we gonna have to hole up in our homes indefinitely or will it end up being not that big of a deal even if it IS endemic?

[QAnonKelly]

I’m waiting right now to get my shot and somehow I think I’m the only person in this line to have been born in the ‘90s.

My shot is in a couple of hours. I wonder if I'll feel the same.

The lady who’s in front of me keeps looking at me weird like I’m not supposed to be here. I’m a teacher, I swear I’m eligible.

Start up a conversation and tell her you're so excited to be getting the shot so you can get back in front of your students.

I’m a millennial, I don’t start small talk with people I don’t know.

[Dr. Arch]

I just got Moderna #1.

[Holmes]

I just got Moderna #1.

I got Pfizer #1.

A lot of younger people too. Then again this was at a large vaccination center in San Francisco.

[Bandit3 the Worker]

Weekly nationwide positive rate just crashed all the way down to 3.96%.

[Dr. Arch]

The updated numbers for COVID-19 in the U.S. are in for 3/12 per: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/us/

I'm keeping track of these updates daily and updating at the end of the day, whenever all states finish reporting for that day.

ΔW Change: Comparisons of Weekly Day-to-day Growth or Decline of COVID-19 Spread/Deaths.

• IE: Comparing the numbers to the same day of last week, are we flattening the curve enough?

Σ Increase: A day's contribution to overall percentage growth of COVID-19 cases/deaths.

• IE:What's the overall change in the total?

Brackets []: These represent the total change for the day, including backlogged reports, if any.

• These numbers are inflated relative to the actual reports for the day, so they are not used to calculate the comparative percentage shifts.

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2/28: <Sunday>

• Cases: 29,255,344 (+52,520 | ΔW Change: ↓10.91% | Σ Increase: ↑0.18%)
• Deaths: 525,776 (+1,107 | ΔW Change: ↓12.00% | Σ Increase: ↑0.21%)

3/1: <M>

• Cases: 29,314,254 (+58,910 | ΔW Change: ↓3.24% | Σ Increase: ↑0.20%)
• Deaths: 527,226 (+1,450 | ΔW Change: ↓0.48% | Σ Increase: ↑0.28%)

3/2: <T>

• Cases: 29,370,705 (+56,451 | ΔW Change: ↓20.95% | Σ Increase: ↑0.19%)
• Deaths: 529,214 (+1,988 | ΔW Change: ↓17.31% | Σ Increase: ↑0.38%)

3/3: <W>

• Cases: 29,456,377 (+66,879 [+85,672] | ΔW Change: ↓13.04% | Σ Increase: ↑0.29%)
• Deaths: 531,652 (+2,350 [+2,438] | ΔW Change: ↓6.93% | Σ Increase: ↑0.46%)

3/4: <Þ>

• Cases: 29,526,086 (+69,709 | ΔW Change: ↓10.21% | Σ Increase: ↑0.24%)
• Deaths: 533,636 (+1,984 | ΔW Change: ↓18.08% | Σ Increase: ↑0.37%)

3/5: <F>

• Cases: 29,593,704 (+67,618 | ΔW Change: ↓16.13% | Σ Increase: ↑0.23%)
• Deaths: 535,563 (+1,927 | ΔW Change: ↓16.11% | Σ Increase: ↑0.36%)

3/6: <S>

• Cases: 29,653,891 (+60,187 | ΔW Change: ↓8.69% | Σ Increase: ↑0.20%)
• Deaths: 537,119 (+1,556 | ΔW Change: ↓1.95% | Σ Increase: ↑0.29%)

3/7: <Sunday>

• Cases: 29,696,250 (+42,359 | ΔW Change: ↓35.73% | Σ Increase: ↑0.14%)
• Deaths: 537,838 (+719 | ΔW Change: ↓35.05% | Σ Increase: ↑0.13%)

3/8: <M>

• Cases: 29,744,652 (+45,116 [+48,402] | ΔW Change: ↓23.42% | Σ Increase: ↑0.16%)
• Deaths: 538,628 (+790 | ΔW Change: ↓45.52% | Σ Increase: ↑0.15%)

3/9: <T>

• Cases: 29,801,506 (+56,854 | ΔW Change: ↑0.71% | Σ Increase: ↑0.19%)
• Deaths: 540,574 (+1,704 [+1,946] | ΔW Change: ↓14.29% | Σ Increase: ↑0.36%)

3/10: <W>

• Cases: 29,862,124 (+60,618 | ΔW Change: ↓9.36% | Σ Increase: ↑0.20%)
• Deaths: 542,191 (+1,617 | ΔW Change: ↓31.19% | Σ Increase: ↑0.30%)

3/11 (Yesterday): <Þ>

• Cases: 29,925,902 (+63,778 | ΔW Change: ↓8.51% | Σ Increase: ↑0.21%)
• Deaths: 543,721 (+1,530 | ΔW Change: ↓22.88% | Σ Increase: ↑0.28%)

3/12 (Today): <F>

• Cases: 29,993,423 (+67,521 | ΔW Change: ↓0.14% | Σ Increase: ↑0.23%)
• Deaths: 545,544 (+1,505 [+1,823] | ΔW Change: ↓21.90% | Σ Increase: ↑0.34%)

[brucejoel99]

If covid turns out to be endemic, like many of thinking now, what exactly will that mean for our way of life going forward?  Are we gonna have to hole up in our homes indefinitely or will it end up being not that big of a deal even if it IS endemic?

No, we're not gonna have to hole up in our homes indefinitely. Yes, it'll end up being not that big of a deal even when it's endemic.

Normalcy is coming back: endemic means that some people will still get it with localized outbreaks, but its impact on our pre-COVID day-to-day life will be very minimal. That is, it'd be endemic in much the same way that the flu is endemic (or, more aptly, in much the same way that the other 4 coronavirus relatives became common colds), wherein it's not going anywhere, but everybody is able to deal with it moving forward to such a substantially significant extent that its existence is no longer detrimental to the functioning of society, not least because the vaccines work against all of the known mutations & the virus is never again gonna have as many chances to randomly mutate as it did over this past year (it actually doesn't mutate all that fast to begin with; it's just had way, way too many hosts this past year, but once you've vaccinated 60+% of the planet, it'll obviously have far fewer potential hosts). Depending on how long the immunity gained from the vaccine lasts, an annual COVID shot similar to the annual flu shot would likely become a thing. IIRC, Moderna is even working on a two-in-one (hopefully an mRNA-based flu vaccine would also be more effective than the standard one, but development may take a bit of time).

[QAnonKelly]

Almost like clockwork for the 24hrs after my shot, my arm stopped hurting. I had a bit of sore throat last night but I’m not sure if it was allergies or a reaction to the vaccine.

[Inmate Trump]

Almost like clockwork for the 24hrs after my shot, my arm stopped hurting. I had a bit of sore throat last night but I’m not sure if it was allergies or a reaction to the vaccine.

Was that your second shot?

I got Moderna.  My first shot was no big deal, just some arm pain.  The second shot...at about 12 hours later, I got a fever, really bad chills, and body aches.  I also could NOT sleep that night.  The next day, just the body aches remained.  The third day was just a slight headache until around lunchtime and then I felt normal again.

Small price to pay for having some protection.