New Coronavirus threat

[John Fedup]

I think current vaccines would suck at preventing infection but would continue work very well against hospitalization and death. Omicron has more mutations than mu and it is confirmed current vaccines have very weak neutralization against mu, so it makes sense current vaccines are pretty much useless against omicron.

Neutralization of the SARS-CoV-2 Mu Variant by Convalescent and Vaccine Serum | NEJM

Correspondence from The New England Journal of Medicine — Neutralization of the SARS-CoV-2 Mu Variant by Convalescent and Vaccine Serum

www.nejm.org

Governments here have speeded up booster programs so they are very concerned about Omicron. As you say the plan now may be to prevent hospitalization not infection.

 

[Paull Fuzzball]

Governments here have speeded up booster programs so they are very concerned about Omicron. As you say the plan now may be to prevent hospitalization not infection.

It is a good measure of precaution. It seems to be mild, but more data is needed over the next few weeks to make a definitive conclusion. I hope it is mild. It could end up being the get out of pandemic card. So far symptoms seem to be identical to common cold with no loss of taste or smell and little to no cough.

 

[John Fedup]

It is a good measure of precaution. It seems to be mild, but more data is needed over the next few weeks to make a definitive conclusion. I hope it is mild. It could end up being the get out of pandemic card. So far symptoms seem to be identical to common cold with no loss of taste or smell and little to no cough.

We can only hope.

 

[Paull Fuzzball]

interview with a man from SA who had / has omicron

 

[John Fedup]

interview with a man from SA who had / has omicron

For a moment I though the guy in the corner of the video was Rudi!

 

[Ananda]

A study of NBA players and staff found that vaccinated people with breakthrough infections may be less likely to spread COVID-19 to others

The study, done when Alpha and Delta were dominant in the US, suggested vaccinated people "clear" the virus days earlier than unvaccinated people.

www.businessinsider.com

Studies among NBA organisation (quite large around 22,000 pops), shown people with full vaccination less contagous if got breakthrough infections and clear infection faster.

At least this negate antivax arguments that the breaktrough and non vaccinated infection has similar level of contagious.

 

[cdxbow]

For a moment I though the guy in the corner of the video was Rudi!

No satanic black (?)blood leaking out of his head so it's certainly not Rudy.
Nature has an article about Omicron variant. How bad is Omicron? What scientists know so far (nature.com)
Some evidence suggests milder disease (fingers crossed) but it's too early to be sure.

 

[kato]

In Norway after a business christmas party with 100-120 attending, reportedly all fully vaccinated, 60 have tested positive on PCR tests by now (4 more on less reliable antigen tests). 17 of the 60 have so far been sequenced as Omicron.

 

[kato]

A couple of days of runny nose, muscle ache.

Right, that's why one-third of ICU Covid patients here are vaccinated...

 

[Boagrius]

Recommend you start citing some sources to support your claims there bud. Lots of statements and no supporting evidence tends to make the mods grumpy...

 

[cdxbow]

Right, that's why one-third of ICU Covid patients here are vaccinated...

Kato, where are you located?
There is some evidence that AZ provides longer and perhaps better protection than the mRNA based vaccines - there seems to be some epidemiological evidence from the comparison between UK (most AZ) compared with European countries, which used, IIRC mRNA vaccines. This article speculates about the reasons Does AstraZeneca's COVID vaccine give longer-lasting protection than mRNA shots? (theconversation.com) though we haven't got the data to support these suppositions yet.

 

[kato]

Kato, where are you located?

Germany. We dumped our stocks of AstraZeneca on other countries when people wholesale refused it due to its abysmally bad reputation, and AstraZeneca was delayed by several months with deliveries anyway.

The above was in response to him stating that all that vaccinated people develop is "runny nose, muscle ache" (that's where his post ended before he later edited it). Vaccination - both with mRNA and and most other vaccines - is proven to reduce symptomatic runs to about one-sixth to one-seventh of the level of unvaccinated by percentage share. However, if you turn symptomatic to a level where you are tested positive, hospitalization and death rates are virtually identical.

If 60% of your population is vaccinated and 40% unvaccinated, then at least one-quarter of your hospitalizations will be vaccinated people statistically.

 

[swerve]

Germany. We dumped our stocks of AstraZeneca on other countries when people wholesale refused it due to its abysmally bad reputation,

Undeserved abysmally bad reputation. It doesn't seem to be as effective as the BioNTech/Pfizer & Moderna vaccines, but by the standards of vaccines in general it's pretty good. Given the choice between AstraZeneca now & BioNTech/Pfizer or Moderna later, the rational choice is AstraZeneca now. People who refused it & waited for an alternative were foolish.

 

[John Fedup]

Kato, where are you located?
There is some evidence that AZ provides longer and perhaps better protection than the mRNA based vaccines - there seems to be some epidemiological evidence from the comparison between UK (most AZ) compared with European countries, which used, IIRC mRNA vaccines. This article speculates about the reasons Does AstraZeneca's COVID vaccine give longer-lasting protection than mRNA shots? (theconversation.com) though we haven't got the data to support these suppositions yet.

I recall reading a couple of articles suggesting that our longer spacing between jabs and mix jabs seemed to offer improved protection. In any event, booster shots are being expanded down to age 50 from 70 plus in Canada.

 

[ngatimozart]

If you are vaxxed, covid-19 behaves just the same as earlier coronavirus such as 229E, OC43, NL63, HKU1. A couple of days of runny nose, muscle ache. Even though vaxxed people may carry it for less in their lungs, in the nose they may carry it for weeks, just as long as unvaxxed people. Injected vaccine that don't use live virus protect the lungs, not the nose. Vaxxed people going about partying and socializing carelessly spread the virus more so than unvaxxed people who are sick at home. Think about how fast common cold spreads. This gives you an idea how fast vaxxed people spread virus.

You are making unsubstantiated claims without any proof. Either provide evidence from reputable, verifiable, reliable sources FOR ALL YOUR CLAIMS BY 1200Z (GMT / UTC) 04 DEC 21 or you will face sanctions from the Moderators. Until then IF YOU MAKE ANY FURTHER UNSUBSTANTIATED CLAIMS ANYWHERE ON THE FORUM YOU WILL BE IMMEDIATELY GIVEN A TEMPORARY BAN UNTIL THE MODERATORS DETERMINE YOUR FUTURE ON HERE. This is non-negotiable.

 

[Paull Fuzzball]

It is quite interesting to find covid-19 and 229E appear to be have hybridized into omicron. This mutation is not found in any of the earlier covid-19 variants.

The same genetic sequence appears many times in one of the coronaviruses that causes colds in people - known as HCoV-229E - and in the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that causes AIDS, Soundararajan said.

This genetic sequence does not appear in any earlier versions of the coronavirus, called SARS-CoV-2, but is ubiquitous in many other viruses including those that cause the common cold, and also in the human genome, researchers said.

Omicron variant may have picked up a piece of common-cold virus

Omicron variant may have picked up a piece of common-cold virus

The Omicron variant of the virus that causes COVID-19 likely acquired at least one of its mutations by picking up a snippet of genetic material from another virus - possibly one that causes the common cold - present in the same infected cells, according to researchers.

www.reuters.com

 

[cdxbow]

Germany. We dumped our stocks of AstraZeneca on other countries when people wholesale refused it due to its abysmally bad reputation, and AstraZeneca was delayed by several months with deliveries anyway.

The above was in response to him stating that all that vaccinated people develop is "runny nose, muscle ache" (that's where his post ended before he later edited it). Vaccination - both with mRNA and and most other vaccines - is proven to reduce symptomatic runs to about one-sixth to one-seventh of the level of unvaccinated by percentage share. However, if you turn symptomatic to a level where you are tested positive, hospitalization and death rates are virtually identical.

If 60% of your population is vaccinated and 40% unvaccinated, then at least one-quarter of your hospitalizations will be vaccinated people statistically.

Thanks.
I agree with Swerve that it got an undeserved bad reputation, and I say that someone who had a terrible reaction to the first jab. I waited until the Australian figures were out - under 40 yo 2.6 cases of TTS* per 100,000 and over 40 yo 1.6 cases of TTS per 100,000. Initial mortality appeared high (50%) and along with some high profile case here it got a bad rep. Mortality from TTS in Oz is now less than 10%, meaning death from AZ vaccine is a true one in a million event. See AstraZeneca vaccine: Mortality rate of rare blood clot condition linked to AZ shot down sharply (smh.com.au) which you also get to meet a couple of my colleagues. Huyen is wearing his 'most serious doctor face'.

*TTS Thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome.

 

[Paull Fuzzball]

Interestingly, they found covid in Quebec deer, although the virus does not appear to cause any disease in deer.

COVID-19 detected in 3 Quebec deer, 1st sign of virus in Canadian wildlife

COVID-19 detected in 3 Quebec deer, 1st sign of virus in Canadian wildlife

For the first time, the COVID-19 virus has been detected in Canadian wildlife. Environment Canada says the virus was detected late last month in three wild white-tailed deer in Quebec. The department says the deer all appeared healthy and showed no clinical signs of COVID-19. The discovery...

toronto.citynews.ca

 

[cdxbow]

Interestingly, they found covid in Quebec deer, although the virus does not appear to cause any disease in deer.

COVID-19 detected in 3 Quebec deer, 1st sign of virus in Canadian wildlife

COVID-19 detected in 3 Quebec deer, 1st sign of virus in Canadian wildlife

For the first time, the COVID-19 virus has been detected in Canadian wildlife. Environment Canada says the virus was detected late last month in three wild white-tailed deer in Quebec. The department says the deer all appeared healthy and showed no clinical signs of COVID-19. The discovery...

toronto.citynews.ca

The list of mammalian species that can be infected with covid is growing longer daily. Every placental 'family' has had species test positive, rodents, bats, primates, the Artiodactyla (dear), Carnivora (cats, dogs) and the Eulipotyphla (shrews), so I expect potentially every mammalian species is at risk, which is not surprising given the spike protein of the ACE is very similar and highly conserved. Dunno about monotremes and marsupials, no data.
There are 3 main issues:
1. does the animal become ill?
2. can the animal spread it to other animals?(inc. humans as we are just animals, most cases in domestic animals has been from humans)
3. does the animal become a long term reservoir?
(I apologise to the biologists using 'family' like this)

 

[Paull Fuzzball]

The list of mammalian species that can be infected with covid is growing longer daily. Every placental 'family' has had species test positive, rodents, bats, primates, the Artiodactyla (dear), Carnivora (cats, dogs) and the Eulipotyphla (shrews), so I expect potentially every mammalian species is at risk, which is not surprising given the spike protein of the ACE is very similar and highly conserved. Dunno about monotremes and marsupials, no data.
There are 3 main issues:
1. does the animal become ill?
2. can the animal spread it to other animals?(inc. humans as we are just animals, most cases in domestic animals has been from humans)
3. does the animal become a long term reservoir?
(I apologise to the biologists using 'family' like this)

I think it could spread from wild animals to humans. In 2009 a H1N1 strain jumped from swine into humans. Although it was not as bad as the 1918 pandemic due to the fact people already had a high degree of immunity to H1N1. If covid does jump from wild animals to humans, likewise I think it won't be as bad as the 2019 pandemic due to pre-existing immunity.