Coronavirus in the United States - news and thoughts

Thoughts and heavy heavy prayers.

 

The numbers are clear. Vaccinated are 4X less likely to get infected, and 16X less likely to die if infected. In addition to the protection the vaccine provides, vaccinated people with a breakthrough case rid themselves of the virus days faster, meaning they are less contagious.

The vaccine isn't perfect. No vaccine ever is, which is why it's called a vaccine, not a cure. But it's there anything more effective in slowing down this virus and keeping up alive?

And if you are scared of the vaccine being "new", it's based on 30 years of research. The vaccine contains one mRNA strand and some lipids plus proteins to keep the mRNA from breaking down; which all the material does within 8 hours of being injected into the body. The chances of the vaccine having long term consequences when all it does it trigger an immune response, then breaks down naturally is incredibly small. And much smaller than being infected by the virus itself, which stays in the body much longer, and has a lot more genetic material.

 

We have one new drug that has been approved for people 16 and older. And it is showing that it is basically worthless now. With how fast the approval happened and the sad political reality of the situation…you are going to have people hesitant to take a new drug. This morning on the google home page for news the BioNTech CEO admitted the booster is not going to stop omicron.

3 COVID-19 vaccine shots won’t stop omicron variant, BioNTech leader says

The data speaks for itself. We know that the elderly and people with certain health issues are at higher risk regardless of age. We know that over 90% of the deaths are people over the age of 50 and most are over 65. People can make rational health decisions for themselves.

 

I think we need to stop testing people who are not sick. I don’t know this…but my bet is that a lot of these players are showing hardly any symptoms. And yes…we are getting to the point that we treat this more like the flu or cold (Michael Jordan was lauded for his flu game even though the recent documentary says it was food poisoning/athletes played through the flu all the time). Especially if the data continues to show it is milder.

Are we ready for that yet? Probably not as our leaders have spoon fed fear into people. But this thing is headed endemic it appears. And it appears to be milder. Good things (well it would be better if it were eradicated but that was not happening it appears).

The new drugs do not work to slow the spread was the point. And BC forced kids who are virtually no risk to take a new drug that did nothing to stop them from getting sick. So have many other Universities. Just dumb.

 

The new Pfizer drug did not work out so well for this guy or the lady from the article…

New Zealand links 26-year-old man's death to Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine

If people want to look at this case by case. They can. I would not suggest that.

 

It's because those who get infected will have memory cells that remember the entire virus, not just the spike protein. It's why symptomatic reinfections have been so rare. They found people who had SARS also mount a B and T cell response. SARS was decades ago and obviously a different coronavirus to Covid 19.

Not that someone with a prior infection cant get a symptomatic infection from Omicron. Anyone who ever thought we would stop infections of a coronavirus and that it was just going to disappear clearly didn't understand the goal. People with prior infections have a higher chance of not having a serious illness. Keeping people out of hospitals should have always been the goal. Stopping the spread was never achievable.

This is not new medical science. This is stuff we have known for a long time just that for some odd reason the medical and science community pushed this to the side.

 

If you understand half of what you claim to, then you understand that the vast majority of amino acid changes on the Omicron variant are NOT on the spike protein. That antibodies blocking the RBD are NOT the only part of the immunological response. And, that Omicron does appear to be completely evading the entire human immune response in patients who had the delta variant in S Africa, while those who were previously infected with Beta variant do seem to mount a stronger response (the changes in Omicron much more closely resemble the Beta variant than Delta). IT is possible, just possible that the lineages are starting to diverge enough that infection from one does not help as much as everyone hoped against the other. While a totally different virus, we see the same thing with the different lineages of influenza.

Again, I don't know the answers, I just wish everyone else in this thread stopped talking with such certainty since they don't know all of the answers either.

 

good post. Yep it’s obvious it works. Just listen to hospital staff everywhere - constantly commenting it’s the unvaxed that fill the icu beds. Anti vax types cost our health care billions and are a burden to us all.

 

Omicron has more vaccine resistance, but early studies show the vaccine will still keep people out if the hospital versus Omicron. Furthermore, another study, again early and not peer reviewed, has shown a booster to significantly increase protection from Omicron.

Had anything proven a better weapon against COVID than the vaccines? Again, the vaccine isn't a cure, and isn't perfect, but perfect shouldn't be the enemy of good. And unless you want to live like a hermit, your best bet is to get vaccinated. Not a 100% guarantee, but what else takes 15 minutes at Walgreens and can offer better protection?

 

You are right we don't know for sure just yet but fortunately, the UK is starting to pour out data for us.

Also, nowhere near an expert on this stuff but I do like to read studies on it.
My understanding is obviously limited and so I depend on experts and their professional opinions. There are some great youtube channels out there who break this stuff down nicely.

One of my favorites throughout this pandemic:

https://www.youtube.com/c/USMLEOnline

Really no study yet on prior infection and unvaxxed regarding protection against serious illness.

It May never come up being both UK and SA are showing very little increase in hospitalizes in relation to spike in cases.

 

Did you read the study?

First, it's not peer-reviewed yet.

Second, this part is very important:

"Our study contributes to emerging evidence that BNT162b2 (Pfizer-BioNTech) or mRNA-1273 (Moderna) primary vaccine protection against Omicron decreases quickly over time, with booster vaccination offering a significant increase in protection," the authors wrote in the study.

On top of that, another study showed even the booster is below 50% at week 10.
Booster protection wanes against symptomatic Omicron infections, British data suggests.

 

I said the study was not yet peer reviewed. Which means pre-print. And although immunity wanes, the point still stands. Is there anything out there yet that offers better protection?

 

Clearly you yourself can't.

 

That's cheap like the vaccines, of course not.

Worth forcing people to get the booster so they can keep their job though??

If it is to stop infection, well it's not working for Omicron. I will always believe people shouldn't be forced to inject something into their bodies.

 

The Supreme Court has held vaccine mandates to be legal since Jacobson v Massachusetts in 1905. One of the key elements in the Declaration of Independence to form the US Government is to promote the general welfare. Vaccines, in general, do just that. They offer protection from diseases not only for the person vaccinated, but for everyone.

Not to mention, Biden's mandate comes with an out for those who choose not to vaccinate. Which is weekly testing.

But the fact is, there is still no better way to protect yourself, and others, from COVIDV than the vaccine. Even if the vaccine limits the spread by just 25%, it's still keeping people healthy, and many people out of the hospital or worse.

 

Wrong. You have no idea if the disease will be dangerous for you. You have no idea of the viral load you will be exposed to. You have no idea how your immune system will react. You have no idea whether the disease will attack your lungs, endothelial cells or just be upper respiratory. You are in a lower risk category and are rolling tho dice. And you never mention others in your post, who you quote evidently don’t care about at all. And, stop with the “holistic” approach. My diet is whole food plant based. I am holistic too.

 

Ehh . . . he's overweight. Shoulda just dieted up!

 

Poster states "And it is showing that it is basically worthless now." Quote from poster's link: "He added that the vaccine is now 70% to 75% effective against stopping COVID-19 infection" The link goes on to state that people should get vaccinated. This poster, however, suggests that vaccination is "basically worthless".
This is sad.

 

Just wanted to point out that there is no testing option here for healthcare workers. I'd thought it was part of the Biden mandate but it may be from the state.

 

Many companies aren't going to provide the option, especially if they are expected to pay for it (directly or indirectly) or keep records about it.