Coronavirus in the United States - news and thoughts

Overall the number terminated due to lack of vaccine is about 1%

How many employees have hospitals lost to vaccine mandates? Here are the numbers so far


Now there may very well be a labor shortage but that could be all kinds of things. Some health care workers have decided it just isn't worth the risk and stress to be doing those jobs during a pandemic.

Why Health-Care Workers Are Quitting in Droves

This says 1 in 5 have left their job. Who knows if that is a real number but it likely is substantial, and has little to do with vaccine hesitancy.

 

Another denier, state senator from Washington, killed by covid

State senator dies a month after telling a local radio station he was sick with Covid-19 while in El Salvador - CNNPolitics

 

[

Here is the kicker for this story: He willingly flew to a country where there are no treatments for COVID and tragically died there.

 

Not US specifically, but very, very interesting data from S Africa concerning the latest variant of interest and lack of hospitalizations in S Africa:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/12/17/covid-omicron-south-africa-vaccinations/

 

We are having a nice spike where I live in Georgia, a run of cases through our High School these past few weeks. Most of the kids that are sick weren't vaccinated but one of them (my son's closest friend) was vaxxed. She is healthy and it presented in her like a cold for a day and then fine, still quarantined though. She exposed my son but he seems fine. He is quarantined until he can test but I think he prefers that (he can still run the trails next to our house)

Wife was really sick a few days ago (we had to cancel a trip). We assumed it wasn't covid and we were correct, just some wicked crud. As a sub in special needs classes, she gets all sorts of exposure unfortunately.

 

Good article from forbes. Tough to read because of the ads. I had to use chrome and reduce zoom to 50%. Basically saying omicron evades vaccines, prior infections (although we don't know about prior omicron infections and monoclonal antibodies.) as far as being transmissible.

How Omicron Evades Natural Immunity, Vaccination, And Monoclonal Antibody Treatments

 

Another article from CNBC how Denmark having a rapid spread in Omicron

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/12/16/covid-news-denmark-expects-omicron-to-overtake-delta-this-week-.html

 

He lived free and died free. He knowingly assumed the risk. And his leadership was dangerous to others who follows his lead. Like all the others like him. Doubtful it will move the needle much. Like all the others. The best advice on this board is to “Booster Up” from a poster who uses the phrase mockingly.

 

Spiking in a lot of places. Starting in the cities and will move around. Omicron is here.

 

From what I understand, this isn't Omicron in GA. Very few cases here, just Delta having a reemergence post holiday. With our low vaccination rate and most people not even taking the most basic precautions, when Omicron gets here it will be ugly.

 

The South African doctors theorize it mutated in someone with HIC which trained it to avoid immunity. The good news seems to be that the vacccinated get milder cases. Anecdotally, I know someone who was on a respirator in March 2020 for several months. and got it again. Got the monoclonals after testing and was fine. We have the tools

 

We don’t sequence enough here to have definitive answers. But, we are seeing a dramatic increase in South Florida after an international festival. Delta pretty much blew through Florida and we have a high vaccination rate here. So, Omicron is here. If not there, it will get there. Glad to be protected!

 

Pfizer / Moderna are theorizing that the T cell immunity is not significantly reduced by the variant, hence with 2 to 3 doses protection from severe disease should remain, although you can still get omicron. All these studies are about antibody titers.

 

SNL makes heavy adjustments.

'SNL' goes without an audience and airs pre-taped sketches due to rising Covid-19 cases


Tonight everyone at 'Saturday Night Live' planned to do our big Christmas show ... but Covid came early this year," Hanks said.
Hanks continued, "In the interest of safety, we do not have an audience."

"And we sent home our cast, most of our crew, but I came here from California," he said. "And if you think I was going to fly 3,000 miles and not be on TV, well, you have another thing coming."

Hanks -- who was wearing a robe with the number "5" emblazoned on it to celebrate inducting host Paul Rudd into "The Five Timers Club," which is reserved for celebrities who have hosted five times -- then brought out Tina Fey.

 

But but but vaccines don’t work.

https://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/covid-19/vaccine-status.htm

 

More data showing natural immunity works on omicron as well from Denmark from first 785 cases.


0% died; 1.2% hospitalized; 0.3% in ICU

83% fully or booster vaccinated

17% not vaccinated (including 2.6 vax started)

ONLY 4.3% had previous SARS-CoV-2 infection

91% had no travel history, 9% reported travel

Eurosurveillance | Epidemiological characterisation of the first 785 SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant cases in Denmark, December 2021

 

I wonder if a) he was vaccinated and b) if this was a business or pleasure trip.

 

So Denmark has population of 6 million. 105,000 infected through December. Back out recent 20,000 in this survey and you had 80,000. 1.33% infected cumulatively. 90% of entire population vaccinated.

Denmark: the latest coronavirus counts, charts and maps

Of the reinfections, with Delta, about 1% of cases has prior immunity. Vs 1.33% of population with prior infection. At face value that is pretty modest protection.

Of the reinfections, with Omicron, 5% of Omicron infections were previously infected. Compared to 1.33% of population previously infected. On face value that would mean previously infected increased your chance of getting Omicron. Of course that doesn't make sense, I suspect the actual percent of infected is higher than 1.33%. The point being there is nothing in this evidence thst shows natural immunity helps against Omicron.

Looked at another way, natural immunity with Omicron had 4 times the rate of reinfection as Delta.

As to vaccinations, with Delta again 90% vaxxed. About 50% fully vaxxed and 40% not vaxxed. So 10% of population (unvaccinated) had 40% of infections. So being fully vaxxed offers substantial protection vs Delta infection.

As to Omicron the protection is less. 10% of population, unvaccinated, had about 15% of the cases.

 

was he a anti-Vaxer?

 

He was anti mandate but I haven't seen anything stating he was specifically anti vax. An article stated it was unknown if he was vaccinated.

He was traveling and monoclonal antibody treatments were not available. I guess that is a caution of traveling.