5 ms·

Omicron sounds like a winner for natural immunity. Probably a good time to catch it.

jacquesm 5y ago
The idea that getting infected gives you immunity from getting infected is an interesting one: but the goal was not to get infected in the first place. Besides that, natural immunity as the result of an infection also doesn't last forever.
gdavisson 5y ago
That doesn't seem like a good idea. We won't have any solid data for a while, but it's likely that the immune escape works both ways. Just as immunity due to vaccination against/infection by other variants gives only limited protection against omicron, infection by omicron is likely to give only limited protection against delta etc. So if you get infected by omicron now, you'll still be at risk of getting hit by delta (or some derivative).
- sonotathrowaway 5y ago
  I don’t understand what you’re saying- infection from omicron probably only provided limited protection from other variants (we agree so far) - isn’t that protection valuable in and of itself? You’re saying that we should forfeit partial protection because it’s not complete protection? To my thinking, if the partial protection you get from omicron is greater than the damage caused by omicron, that protection is valuable.
  - gdavisson 5y ago
    Why do you expect the partial protection from omicron to be greater than the damage caused by omicron? While it's looking significantly less dangerous than delta (though even that isn't completely certain), that doesn't mean it's anything like safe. And even if omicron is drastically less severe than delta, its going to have a hard time being less dangerous or more effective vs delta than vaccination.
    - sonotathrowaway 5y ago
      Because omicron has resulted in much less severe symptoms than Delta, and much less hospitalization/death- so far only one American death, compared to Delta which is much more lethal. If the incidences of long covid from omicron are correlated with it’s lethality, it’d only have to confer modest protection against delta to be a net benefit. I’m not comparing it against the efficacy of vaccines, I’m saying that if you wanted the most protection against extreme covid outcomes (death/long covid), you’d want all the antibodies you can - so vaccination + omicron antibodies.
- landemva 5y ago
  This is double speak , '... immunity due to vaccination against/infection by other variants gives only limited protection ...'. In the real world, it can not provide both immunity and limited protection. Those at risk may want to consider if they can reduce their risk profile by maybe losing weight or increasing their cardiovascular ability.
bigodbiel 5y ago
We still lack data on unvaccinated naive (if SA >70% seroprevalence are true), so at least omicron would serve as booster dose for vaccinated and recovered.
renewedrebecca 5y ago
Omicron might have lighter symptoms than say the delta variant, but still carries the risk of long covid. As someone who has long covid, please believe me when I say you don't want it.
- systemBuilder 5y ago
  Your death rate is doubled in the year after covid recovery from hospitalization!

The idea that getting infected gives you immunity from getting infected is an interesting one: but the goal was not to get infected in the first place. Besides that, natural immunity as the result of an infection also doesn't last forever.

gdavisson 5y ago

That doesn't seem like a good idea. We won't have any solid data for a while, but it's likely that the immune escape works both ways. Just as immunity due to vaccination against/infection by other variants gives only limited protection against omicron, infection by omicron is likely to give only limited protection against delta etc. So if you get infected by omicron now, you'll still be at risk of getting hit by delta (or some derivative).

sonotathrowaway 5y ago
I don’t understand what you’re saying- infection from omicron probably only provided limited protection from other variants (we agree so far) - isn’t that protection valuable in and of itself? You’re saying that we should forfeit partial protection because it’s not complete protection? To my thinking, if the partial protection you get from omicron is greater than the damage caused by omicron, that protection is valuable.
- gdavisson 5y ago
  Why do you expect the partial protection from omicron to be greater than the damage caused by omicron? While it's looking significantly less dangerous than delta (though even that isn't completely certain), that doesn't mean it's anything like safe. And even if omicron is drastically less severe than delta, its going to have a hard time being less dangerous or more effective vs delta than vaccination.
  - sonotathrowaway 5y ago
    Because omicron has resulted in much less severe symptoms than Delta, and much less hospitalization/death- so far only one American death, compared to Delta which is much more lethal. If the incidences of long covid from omicron are correlated with it’s lethality, it’d only have to confer modest protection against delta to be a net benefit. I’m not comparing it against the efficacy of vaccines, I’m saying that if you wanted the most protection against extreme covid outcomes (death/long covid), you’d want all the antibodies you can - so vaccination + omicron antibodies.
landemva 5y ago
This is double speak , '... immunity due to vaccination against/infection by other variants gives only limited protection ...'. In the real world, it can not provide both immunity and limited protection. Those at risk may want to consider if they can reduce their risk profile by maybe losing weight or increasing their cardiovascular ability.

bigodbiel 5y ago

We still lack data on unvaccinated naive (if SA >70% seroprevalence are true), so at least omicron would serve as booster dose for vaccinated and recovered.

renewedrebecca 5y ago

Omicron might have lighter symptoms than say the delta variant, but still carries the risk of long covid. As someone who has long covid, please believe me when I say you don't want it.

systemBuilder 5y ago
Your death rate is doubled in the year after covid recovery from hospitalization!