3 ms·

Germany has been running at 500 deaths per day from Delta for several weeks (https://covid19.who.int/region/euro/country/de https://covid19.who.int/region/euro/

Germany has been running at 500 deaths per day from Delta for several weeks (https://covid19.who.int/region/euro/country/de https://covid19.who.int/region/euro/country/de). The evidence from the UK is that Omicron overtakes Delta in just a few days (https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1043466/20211222_OS_Daily_Omicron_Overview.pdf https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/...). As the most recent research in the UK suggests (https://www.politico.eu/article/omicron-variant-coronavirus-symptoms-milder-delta-uk-data/ https://www.politico.eu/article/omicron-variant-coronavirus-...), and the data in the parent comment demonstrates in the case of South Africa, Omicron is significantly less harmful. My conclusion is that we should really welcome Omicron as the variant that will vaccinate those holding out against the man-made vaccine without killing and hospitalising too many of them.

martin938 5y ago
- hammock 5y ago
  Irrelevant. As the new strain outcompetes the old, the old dies away forever. For example, Delta became 99%+ of cases in the US.
  - soperj 5y ago
    Omicron evolved from Beta... so not really.
- brazzy 5y ago
  GP meant that they will just get infected and thereby acquire a degree of immunity, with higher risk of death than the vaccine, but (hopefully) not as high as with previous variants.
- lolc 5y ago
  1. The quip was that people who don't want to get vaccinated will get immunized through infection. Yes, using "vaccinated" in this context ("the variant that will vaccinate") is not proper usage of the term unless we allow the interpretation that vaccines are milder than the disease and Omicron might be milder than Delta. 2. "obscure, experimental, for older strains": Look, the vaccines are not obscure. Billions had them. Experimental: Sure. Much as not getting vaccinated is. Remember, we haven't seen that virus before. Older Strains: Turns out protection against severe effects is still strong. I'd say experimentally you're better off partially immunized with one of the well-known vaccines than when waiting around for one of the variants to catch you naive.
  - martin938 5y ago
- throwawaytemp27 5y ago
  I think the parent meant that people who had not gotten a vaccine will get omicron, which is hopefully mild, and will hopefully provide good protection. So they probably should have used immunize vs vaccinate.

martin938 5y ago

hammock 5y ago
Irrelevant. As the new strain outcompetes the old, the old dies away forever. For example, Delta became 99%+ of cases in the US.
- soperj 5y ago
  Omicron evolved from Beta... so not really.
brazzy 5y ago
GP meant that they will just get infected and thereby acquire a degree of immunity, with higher risk of death than the vaccine, but (hopefully) not as high as with previous variants.
lolc 5y ago
1. The quip was that people who don't want to get vaccinated will get immunized through infection. Yes, using "vaccinated" in this context ("the variant that will vaccinate") is not proper usage of the term unless we allow the interpretation that vaccines are milder than the disease and Omicron might be milder than Delta. 2. "obscure, experimental, for older strains": Look, the vaccines are not obscure. Billions had them. Experimental: Sure. Much as not getting vaccinated is. Remember, we haven't seen that virus before. Older Strains: Turns out protection against severe effects is still strong. I'd say experimentally you're better off partially immunized with one of the well-known vaccines than when waiting around for one of the variants to catch you naive.
- martin938 5y ago
throwawaytemp27 5y ago
I think the parent meant that people who had not gotten a vaccine will get omicron, which is hopefully mild, and will hopefully provide good protection. So they probably should have used immunize vs vaccinate.