Testing sewage for omicron helps communities get ahead of the variant : Shots - Health News : NPR

Testing sewage for omicron helps communities get ahead of the variant : Shots - Health News : NPR

Three cheers for wastewater surveillance.  But is surveillance the right word to be using?  It's not like the poop is keeping an eye out for sneaky poop spies.

Coronavirus live updates: Omicron variant could require fourth vaccine dose - The Washington Post

Coronavirus live updates: Omicron variant could require fourth vaccine dose - The Washington Post: The new omicron variant could increase the likelihood that people will need a fourth coronavirus vaccine dose earlier than expected, executives at pharmaceutical giant Pfizer said Wednesday.

THIS JUST IN: PEOPLE WHO SELL BREAKFAST CEREAL CALL BREAKFAST THE MOST IMPORTANT MEAL OF THE DAY

Omicron Four Times More Transmissible Than Delta in Japan Study - Bloomberg

Omicron Four Times More Transmissible Than Delta in Japan Study - Bloomberg

“The vaccination rate was less than 30% and many people were probably naturally infected,” Nishiura said. “We need to pay close attention to future trends to see if the same thing will happen in countries where mRNA vaccines are used at a high rate.”  

Delta%20Variants%20%u2014%20More%20Science%2C%20Less%20Fiction%20%7C%20Dispatch%20%2319%20%7C%20by%20Jordan%20L.%20Shlain%20MD%20%7C%20Tincture

Delta%20Variants%20%u2014%20More%20Science%2C%20Less%20Fiction%20%7C%20Dispatch%20%2319%20%7C%20by%20Jordan%20L.%20Shlain%20MD%20%7C%20Tincture: All this to say, here we are. This pandemic is not going away and more to the Delta point, we are all likely going to get this virus. All the data shows that those that are vaccinated fare much, much better than those that are not vaccinated. The unvaccinated are gambling with their lives, even the younger ones.

I've heard a lot of people saying we're all going to get it.  I have two family members who I suspect had mild, pre-vaccine cases.  Although my son told me he had trouble breathing but didn't tell us because he didn't want to worry us, and was coughing for a week.

Omicron exposes South Africa's Vaccination struggles

Omicron exposes South Africa's Vaccination struggles

There's no point in really posting about the Omicron variant because nobody knows anything.  I find the idea that it percolated inside a single immune-compromised person interesting.  If we take care of the poor and the weak, we take care of all of us.

The%20coronavirus%20is%20here%20to%20stay%20%u2014%20here%u2019s%20what%20that%20means

The%20coronavirus%20is%20here%20to%20stay%20%u2014%20here%u2019s%20what%20that%20means

You know what feels like a persistent virus?  These "%20" things 

New Concerning Variant: B.1.1.529 - by Katelyn Jetelina - Your Local Epidemiologist

This substack looks pretty good.

New Concerning Variant: B.1.1.529 - by Katelyn Jetelina - Your Local Epidemiologist: B.1.1.529 has 32 mutations on the spike protein alone. This is an insane amount of change. As a comparison, Delta had 9 changes on the spike protein. We know that B.1.1.529 is not a “Delta plus” variant. The figure below shows a really long line, with no previous Delta ancestors. So this likely means it mutated over time in one, likely immunocompromised, individual (see my P.S. note at the end of the post).