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Omicron: The New Variant
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Has Achieved Nirvana
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quote:
The omicron coronavirus variant was confirmed Thursday in an unvaccinated Hawaii resident with no recent travel history, state health officials said.

The adult had been infected with COVID-19 a year ago, isn't currently hospitalized and had “mild-to-moderate” symptoms, including headache, body aches and cough, Hawaii Epidemiologist Dr. Sarah Kemble said.

She wouldn't identify the patient other than to say the person lives on the island of Oahu.


https://www.sfgate.com/news/ar...-Hawaii-16670636.php


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We are all visitors to this time, this place. We are just passing through. Our purpose here is to observe, to learn, to grow, to love… and then we return home. - Australian Aboriginal proverb

Bazootiehead-in-training



 
Posts: 37794 | Location: Somewhere in the middle | Registered: 19 January 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Minor Deity
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In short, it's been around a while before it was detected in Africa.


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"A mob is a place where people go to get away from their conscience" Atticus Finch

 
Posts: 13525 | Registered: 20 April 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Has Achieved Nirvana
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Yea, we don't know where it originated; we only know where the first case was identified, namely South Africa.

Then there's this from Botswana:

https://www.usnews.com/news/wo...es-were-asymptomatic


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We are all visitors to this time, this place. We are just passing through. Our purpose here is to observe, to learn, to grow, to love… and then we return home. - Australian Aboriginal proverb

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Posts: 37794 | Location: Somewhere in the middle | Registered: 19 January 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Bill Ackman
@BillAckman
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Nov 28
A thought. While it is too early to have definitive data, early reported data suggest that the Omicron virus causes ‘mild to moderate’ symptoms (less severity) and is more transmissible. If this turns out to be true, this is bullish not bearish for markets.


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Several people have eaten my cooking and survived.

 
Posts: 25677 | Location: Still living at 9000 feet in the High Rockies of Colorado | Registered: 20 April 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Originally posted by CHAS:
Bill Ackman
@BillAckman
·
Nov 28
A thought. While it is too early to have definitive data, early reported data suggest that the Omicron virus causes ‘mild to moderate’ symptoms (less severity) and is more transmissible. If this turns out to be true, this is bullish not bearish for markets.


That's the hope. Because it appears to be spreading twice as fast as Delta.
 
Posts: 45725 | Registered: 20 April 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Seems like it's more contagious.

It's causing breakthrough cases in fully vaccinated people with boosters; a couple of Israeli doctors tested positive.

I've read reports that kids under 5 are being hospitalized at a higher rate.

I'm still in Hopeful-ville that omicron may end up being a good thing , but am fully aware that we have so little data that it's pretty much impossible to draw any solid conclusions. The sample size just isn't big enough yet.


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We are all visitors to this time, this place. We are just passing through. Our purpose here is to observe, to learn, to grow, to love… and then we return home. - Australian Aboriginal proverb

Bazootiehead-in-training



 
Posts: 37794 | Location: Somewhere in the middle | Registered: 19 January 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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A super-spreader Omicron event in Oslo ... everyone was vaccinated.

https://www.reuters.com/world/...horities-2021-12-03/
 
Posts: 45725 | Registered: 20 April 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Yea, there's a group from Wisconsin that's also come down with COVID, at least some of them with omicron, and many were boosted.

quote:
Five of 12 people who were diagnosed with COVID-19 after attending a Milwaukee County wedding Nov. 27 were infected with the omicron variant, state and city health officials said.

All 12 are California residents, a news release from the state Department of Health Services said.

The DHS and the City of Milwaukee Health Department are investigating the outbreak from the wedding.

A California State lab used genomic sequencing to identify that five of the 12 people diagnosed with COVID-19 were infected with the omicron variant, the news release said. Genomic sequencing data is not yet available for the other cases.

According to DHS, one of the individuals attended the wedding after returning from international travel.

"The 12 individuals diagnosed with COVID-19 are between the ages of 18-49. All individuals were vaccinated, and most had received boosters. They are mildly symptomatic and no one has been hospitalized," the news release, issued late Friday, said.


https://www.jsonline.com/story...ials-say/8863057002/

This STAT piece talks about interpreting info that may become available in the near future.

https://www.statnews.com/2021/...-interpret-the-data/

But we'll still be left with as many questions as answers.

edit: The antivrals are a ray of hope, though...I think Merck has already submitted theirs and I believe Pfizer won't be far behind.


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We are all visitors to this time, this place. We are just passing through. Our purpose here is to observe, to learn, to grow, to love… and then we return home. - Australian Aboriginal proverb

Bazootiehead-in-training



 
Posts: 37794 | Location: Somewhere in the middle | Registered: 19 January 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Quirt's and my dream lives on for now....

quote:
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.

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.

By inserting this particular snippet into itself, Omicron might be making itself look "more human," which would help it evade attack by the human immune system, said Venky Soundararajan of Cambridge, Massachusetts-based data analytics firm nference, who led the study https://osf.io/f7txy posted on Thursday on the website OSF Preprints.

This could mean the virus transmits more easily, while only causing mild or asymptomatic disease. Scientists do not yet know whether Omicron is more infectious than other variants, whether it causes more severe disease or whether it will overtake Delta as the most prevalent variant. It may take several weeks to get answers to these questions.

Cells in the lungs and in the gastrointestinal system can harbor SARS-CoV-2 and common-cold coronaviruses simultaneously, according to earlier studies. Such co-infection sets the scene for viral recombination, a process in which two different viruses in the same host cell interact while making copies of themselves, generating new copies that have some genetic material from both "parents."

This new mutation could have first occurred in a person infected with both pathogens when a version of SARS-CoV-2 picked up the genetic sequence from the other virus, Soundararajan and colleagues said in the study, which has not yet been peer-reviewed.


https://www.yahoo.com/news/omi...piece-215330137.html


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We are all visitors to this time, this place. We are just passing through. Our purpose here is to observe, to learn, to grow, to love… and then we return home. - Australian Aboriginal proverb

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Posts: 37794 | Location: Somewhere in the middle | Registered: 19 January 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Dr. Noubar Afeyan, chairman of Moderna, was on Fareed Zakaria this morning. Tried to type as he talked; will look for video and/or transcript later or tomorrow (sometimes Fareed has that available). Around here Fareed is rebroadcast at noon CT; you might be able to catch it yourself if you have access to CNN.

Afeyan says they should know more in the next 7 to 10 days about how well their vaccine may protect against omicron. He said they hope to get a better idea about complete protection (no infection at all) vs protection against severe disease and hospitalization. He later said that Moderna's objective is to prevent people from getting it altogether because people who get a mild form can still infect others, and that for as long as there is wide circulation, future (and more dangerous) variants can develop, perpetuating the cycle.

If the vaccine doesn't seem to be protective, he talked about three approaches:

Boost with higher dose of current vaccine (Moderna's current booster dropped the initial dose by half)

Develop a new vaccine with multivariant adjuvants (I have to chase down this term) to show the body a couple of versions of virus to build better immunity (never been done before)

Tweak the mRNA vaccine to create omicron-specific spike. 60 to 90 days to develop.

When asked about whether people should travel he said that in the US (where he lives) delta is predominant and dangerous. Boosters are an important tool for fighting delta. Encouraging people to get the booster for that reason. But he also noted that we don't know if the booster will be effective against the other variants yet.

He's wearing a mask much more than he was and may adjust behavior further in the future. Talked about need to work on vaccinating the rest of the world.

No discussion of omicron severity.


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We are all visitors to this time, this place. We are just passing through. Our purpose here is to observe, to learn, to grow, to love… and then we return home. - Australian Aboriginal proverb

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Posts: 37794 | Location: Somewhere in the middle | Registered: 19 January 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Dr Stephen Hoge, president of Moderna was on ABC's This Week.

Bullets of what he said:

Changes that show up in omicron not what they wanted to see.

Thinks there will be a drop in vaccine efficacy, doesn't know how much. If it drops by say, 50 percent, they'll re-do the vaccine.

Dose production for a new vaccine will take time to ramp up.

Walensky was on, too.

Reiterated guidance re indoor mask wearing in areas with high community transmission. She noted that 80 percent of counties qualify.

FDA is already considering how to streamline approvals for modified vaccines, given that we've been through this before.

Again, will look for transcript and/or video.


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We are all visitors to this time, this place. We are just passing through. Our purpose here is to observe, to learn, to grow, to love… and then we return home. - Australian Aboriginal proverb

Bazootiehead-in-training



 
Posts: 37794 | Location: Somewhere in the middle | Registered: 19 January 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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thanks for the notes, WTG!

Some conclusions AFAIC: keep social interactions to a minimum, don't dine out, keep masking up every where, if you're not boosted, get boosted.

I wish *everyone* would embrace masking, with high-quality masks. Sigh.


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Posts: 18329 | Location: not in Japan any more | Registered: 20 April 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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BTW: we have not dined out (indoors or outdoors) since Feb 2020. And we have not socialized with friends since then either.

I have a few friends who are like-minded re vaccines etc. so we were planning to invite one or two of them to our house during the winter break. We still might do that, but had already planned to do it with no beverages or food, with all will be masked. So if we do, we'll stick to that plan.

I really want to have some music time with my violin friend. Sigh.


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My piano recordings at Box.Net: https://app.box.com/s/j4rgyhn72uvluemg1m6u

 
Posts: 18329 | Location: not in Japan any more | Registered: 20 April 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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And here we are taking three airplanes from three big airports to get back from New Jersey after visiting my Dad…


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Posts: 20415 | Registered: 20 April 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Thinking with concern of all the close-seated get-togethers in conjunction with my ex-husband's death - funeral, service, several restaurant meals of from seven to dozens of mourners.

Realizing I don't know when indoor restaurant dining even became acceptable.

And, of course, several family flew in for the funeral and to visit me.

And yet our synagogue's live Shabbat services remain masked and social-distanced (most congregants still attend virtually). Several spontaneously hugged me afterwards the night sons and I attended live to recite Kaddish.

Appreciated but questioned afterwards, the erraticness of practices noted.

I'd certainly welcome clearer and consistent guidelines as the medical situation evolves. Hard to believe the COVID issue has been going on for three years now. At least in my hometown we'll get something of risk reprieve while students (still unvaccinated) go home for Christmas.

Anxiously awaiting more information on OMICRON's specs - severity, transmissibility, demographic
vulnerability (like much younger children are getting sick), etc.

What have you all experienced lately in terms of requirements vis a vis masking, restrictions on the public re restaurants, large gatherings, virtual doctor appointments, etc.? At least, I see more self-imposed masking returning to supermarkets and other businesses.


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