COVID-19 Megathread 6: Return of the Omicron

[GeneralMacArthur]

It's not a good question.  COVID can only be made endemic by continuing to treat its current pandemic status as a crisis.  Get a vaccine that limits COVID to only the mildest possible form of Omicron, and force everyone to get it, and only then can you say that COVID is "basically just the flu."

[Donerail]

It's not a good question.  COVID can only be made endemic by continuing to treat its current pandemic status as a crisis.  Get a vaccine that limits COVID to only the mildest possible form of Omicron, and force everyone to get it, and only then can you say that COVID is "basically just the flu."

do we force everyone to get a flu shot

[Lief 🗽]

It's not a good question.  COVID can only be made endemic by continuing to treat its current pandemic status as a crisis.  Get a vaccine that limits COVID to only the mildest possible form of Omicron, and force everyone to get it, and only then can you say that COVID is "basically just the flu."

We’ve done everything we realistically can to get people vaccinated though (short of going door to door and forcefully injecting people but obviously that’s not happening).

[Bandit3 the Worker]

According to covidestim.org, the Rt is now below 1 in every state except Tennessee. It's down to 0.29 in Utah, 0.31 in Rhode Island, and 0.4 or lower in a host of other states.

[H.E. VOLODYMYR ZELENKSYY]

It's not a good question.  COVID can only be made endemic by continuing to treat its current pandemic status as a crisis.  Get a vaccine that limits COVID to only the mildest possible form of Omicron, and force everyone to get it, and only then can you say that COVID is "basically just the flu."

do we force everyone to get a flu shot

Doesn’t make sense to compare when we’re talking about Covid with the vaccine vs the flu without the vaccine.

[Hammy]

I'm pretty sure I had COVID early this week. It felt like the mildest cold I ever had, with none of the worst cold symptoms. At worst, my nose ran like a faucet.

Probably wasn't covid--I'm like that nearly year-round.

[Person Man]

I'm pretty sure I had COVID early this week. It felt like the mildest cold I ever had, with none of the worst cold symptoms. At worst, my nose ran like a faucet.

Probably wasn't covid--I'm like that nearly year-round.

It was probably bacterial. I am just getting over a sinus infection I had for over 3 weeks. I did a UA at my new PCP and it came back with bacterial infection.

[Meclazine for Israel]

I'm pretty sure I had COVID early this week. It felt like the mildest cold I ever had, with none of the worst cold symptoms. At worst, my nose ran like a faucet.

Probably wasn't covid--I'm like that nearly year-round.

My symptoms from the Moderna 3rd booster were worse than that.

Then again, there are people who get COVID and have no symptoms and never test positive.

It just doesn't get them.

[GeorgiaModerate]

https://twitter.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1487247488780316672

[Frodo]

The midterms are going to be a total and complete slaughter.

If there is a silver-lining, it is this -the Republican-controlled Congress will force the country to move on past the COVID pandemic at long last, treating it as an endemic like the flu.  And by the time they take over, the return to normalcy will be not only needed but also welcomed across party lines. 

[Pericles]

The midterms are going to be a total and complete slaughter.

The framing of this question isn't great. It's possible to think that America shouldn't pursue an elimination strategy, that Covid will be something to live with, but there may be some restrictions that are right now still worth it. Plus the goal should be to make hospitalisations and deaths fall to a much lower and normal amount. 

[riceowl]

https://twitter.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1487247488780316672

Never going to celebrate the death and suffering of another but I would like to go back in time to Fox airing this clip multiple times as a cause celebre.

[DINGO Joe]

Well, we've still got a death rate running 20% above pre-pandemic level and the deaths (and disabilities) have carved into the workforce so to treat it as endemic means adapting to a new normal and given the inability for a substantial portion of the population to comprehend reality , well, don't expect the "endemic" phase to be any easier than the pandemic phase until Covid is done running it's course.

[Calthrina950]

The framing of this question isn't great. It's possible to think that America shouldn't pursue an elimination strategy, that Covid will be something to live with, but there may be some restrictions that are right now still worth it. Plus the goal should be to make hospitalisations and deaths fall to a much lower and normal amount.  

I would also bet on the political salience of the pandemic fading in the US after the present wave passes, at least at the federal level. The administration seems much more concerned about sudtainging the economic recovery, and rightly so.

That might change if we have another seasonal wave, particularly if its driven by a more dangerous variant, but that's more likely to become a concern to the general public again later in December.

In a way, it seems like coronavirus is taking the path which was taken by the Black Death during the Middle Ages. That is, the "pandemic" or "primary" wave of the virus subsides, but the virus itself never entirely disappears, and there will be recurring outbreaks ("surges") in the coming years, with a renewal of restrictions (such as quarantines and mask mandates) occurring from time to time. That is what the new normal will be defined by.

[GeneralMacArthur]

It's not a good question.  COVID can only be made endemic by continuing to treat its current pandemic status as a crisis.  Get a vaccine that limits COVID to only the mildest possible form of Omicron, and force everyone to get it, and only then can you say that COVID is "basically just the flu."

do we force everyone to get a flu shot

Bad analogy.  The flu changes every year and the flu shot changes every year and is usually not particularly effective.  Furthermore, the flu takes an entire year to kill as many people as COVID is killing every week -- and that's with all these restrictions.

If we could get a vaccine that permanently limited influenza to its most limited form and/or immunized a large portion of recipients against it for life, then I would support the government adding it to the government-mandated vaccine schedule (which nobody except loony vaccines-cause-autism folks had a problem with until a year ago).

[100% pro-life no matter what]

According to covidestim.org, the Rt is now below 1 in every state except Tennessee. It's down to 0.29 in Utah, 0.31 in Rhode Island, and 0.4 or lower in a host of other states.

Tennessee only reports data once a week, so the data is pretty old at this point.  Would guess its past peak in TN as well.

[OSR stands with Israel]

All COVID restrictions should be dropped immediately

[GregTheGreat657]

We need to start ignoring public health experts and Big Pharma. I support the vaccine (and am vaccinated myself) but we shouldn't and don't need 500 boosters for it to actually work. At this point, it is pretty clear that politicians and executives are just trying to overstate how bad things are in order to hold onto power

[Hammy]

We need to start ignoring public health experts and Big Pharma. I support the vaccine (and am vaccinated myself) but we shouldn't and don't need 500 boosters for it to actually work. At this point, it is pretty clear that politicians and executives are just trying to overstate how bad things are in order to hold onto power

This is still very early in this virus's existence even though it feels like an eternity for us, so we're naturally going to see more boosters before this is over.

That said, research shows that getting too many too close together (and every fourth month as some here are either proposing or fretting over) is too close, and can actually backfire:

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-01-11/repeat-booster-shots-risk-overloading-immune-system-ema-says

European Union regulators warned that frequent Covid-19 booster shots could adversely affect the immune response and may not be feasible. 

Repeat booster doses every four months could eventually weaken the immune response and tire out people, according to the European Medicines Agency. Instead, countries should leave more time between booster programs and tie them to the onset of the cold season in each hemisphere, following the blueprint set out by influenza vaccination strategies, the agency said.

[HillGoose]

imagine being able to believe they will ever let this end

[GeneralMacArthur]

All COVID restrictions should be dropped immediately

How about if we wait until COVID rates plummet just like they have in South Africa, and then end all restrictions, and you can just say it was your persistent pressure that scored the victory.

[emailking]

We need to start ignoring public health experts and Big Pharma. I support the vaccine (and am vaccinated myself) but we shouldn't and don't need 500 boosters for it to actually work. At this point, it is pretty clear that politicians and executives are just trying to overstate how bad things are in order to hold onto power

500 is an exaggeration but we may need several more boosters for this to work. That not aligning with how you want this to work doesn't mean we won't need them. Again, to early to know whether more boosters, or how many, will be needed. Of course if you don't want them, don't take them. But they're doing their jobs.

[jamestroll]

All COVID restrictions should be dropped immediately

How about if we wait until COVID rates plummet just like they have in South Africa, and then end all restrictions, and you can just say it was your persistent pressure that scored the victory.

There are virtually no covid restrictions in most of the United States. This discussion is moot.

[Inmate Trump]

All COVID restrictions should be dropped immediately

What restrictions?

[Bandit3 the Worker]

All COVID restrictions should be dropped immediately

What restrictions?

Schools, colleges, and a handful of other places still have masks.