6 ms·

I'm not sure if we can say it's "over". People were saying the same thing after the Delta waves started subsiding and behold … Omicron.

monological 5y ago
But now we’ll be able to reach herd immunity. Very mild and highly transmissible. This is the best possible outcome.
- ptaipale 5y ago
  Herd immunity has been predicted since about May 2020 (in Sweden) and there is always far too optimism about it. We now know that a recovered infection does not produce permanent immunity.
- TylerE 5y ago
  I've been watching over both my parents the past week. Both Omicron cases. "Very mild" is... not accurate. It hasn't hospitalized them, but even without quarantining, they'd be incapable of living anything like a normal life. The common cold it most certainly IS NOT. (Both are double vaxxed and boosted, btw)
  - pikma 5y ago
    Was it worse than a flu for them, or roughly similar?
    - TylerE 5y ago
      Normal flu for my dad, a bit worse than that from mom. She basically hasn't gotten out of bed for about 8 days except to use the bathroom.
      - pikma 5y ago
        Gee, 8 days is a lot, yeah that feels like worse than a flu. I hope they both feel better soon.
      - dwaltrip 5y ago
        How old are they?
        TylerE 5y ago
        Early 70s, but in good health generally
        dwaltrip 5y ago
        Thanks for sharing. I hope they feel better soon.
  - x86_64Ubuntu 5y ago
    Keep in mind, that between the "like the flu" and "mild" designator, folks are dismissing the severity of Omicron. But we must keep in mind that "mild" is in reference to "severe" which entails death and ground glass lungs.
    - smileysteve 5y ago
      The pandemic has taught me how little people care about words; "Asymptomatic" now means "just a low grade fever", or "a cough that didn't take me to the hospital" "Allergies" now means "I can barely breathe no matter what environment and I'm tired like I'm taking Claritin, just ignore the color of my sputum or my cough." "It's just the cold or flu" now means "I'm just sick for a week, and I should definitely socialize like normal"
  - slickrick216 5y ago
    Very mild is exceptionally accurate. It’s a nothing burger even for unvaccinated people.
    - babypuncher 5y ago
      Then why are our hospitals overloaded with covid patients?
      - slickrick216 5y ago
        They aren’t
        babypuncher 5y ago
        Are you suggesting that the footage of crowded hospitals and horror stories from my own family members who work in healthcare are entirely fabricated?
- etchalon 5y ago
  There's no reason to believe that we'll achieve herd immunity to anything beyond Omicron. There's a reason Flu vaccines are a thing you get every year, even if you've had the flu.
  - landemva 5y ago
    I don't get the flu vaccine every year.
    - Aeolos 5y ago
      Once you reach a certain age, you really should.
- nradov 5y ago
  There will be no real herd immunity effect to protect those who lack immunity. Instead virtually everyone is just going to get infected, and most survivors will retain cellular immunity which gives them significant protection against severe symptoms during later reinfections. https://www.businessinsider.com/delta-variant-made-herd-immunity-not-possible-astrazeneca-developer-2021-8?r=US&IR=T https://www.businessinsider.com/delta-variant-made-herd-immu... Fortunately the current vaccines and other therapies are pretty effective at preventing deaths.
- scrooched_moose 5y ago
  There's no guarantee of that. Omicron seems to be exceptionally capable of infecting both those who had the current vaccines and/or previous variants. Maybe Omicron provides immunity to Rho (or whatever is coming), but it may provide no protection to Sigma.
- bsder 5y ago
  Medical community Covid "mild" is a far cry from common cold "mild". I had a "mild" Covid Original Flavour. I "only" had a 103 fever for 3 weeks, swellings in places I didn't know could swell, and had my stamina shot to shit. It's been just over a year and I'm just now beginning to feel like I can start bringing myself back to pre-Covid healthiness levels. And all that is "mild". I didn't lose my sense of smell. I didn't lose oxygenation. I never had to go to the emergency room.
rafale 5y ago
It's hard to imagine a more transmissible covid variant for a layman such as myself. I wonder if microbiologists are able to model the maximum theoretical transmission Sars covid is capable of.
- nradov 5y ago
  I don't think we can model it accurately, but we can look to other viruses as examples. The SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant is still only about half as contagious as measles. https://www.vaccinestoday.eu/stories/what-is-r0/ https://www.vaccinestoday.eu/stories/what-is-r0/
lamontcg 5y ago
And Omicron is an order of magnitude less virulent on hospitalization/deaths per infection basis. The pandemic is never going to be "over" on a case basis, and the virus is never going away, spread will never be zero, variants will always keep happening for decades. Omicron is telling you that its going to be time soon to start thinking about this virus more like a normal cold/flu virus based on its impact.

monological 5y ago

But now we’ll be able to reach herd immunity. Very mild and highly transmissible. This is the best possible outcome.

ptaipale 5y ago
Herd immunity has been predicted since about May 2020 (in Sweden) and there is always far too optimism about it. We now know that a recovered infection does not produce permanent immunity.
TylerE 5y ago
I've been watching over both my parents the past week. Both Omicron cases. "Very mild" is... not accurate. It hasn't hospitalized them, but even without quarantining, they'd be incapable of living anything like a normal life. The common cold it most certainly IS NOT. (Both are double vaxxed and boosted, btw)
- pikma 5y ago
  Was it worse than a flu for them, or roughly similar?
  - TylerE 5y ago
    Normal flu for my dad, a bit worse than that from mom. She basically hasn't gotten out of bed for about 8 days except to use the bathroom.
    - pikma 5y ago
      Gee, 8 days is a lot, yeah that feels like worse than a flu. I hope they both feel better soon.
    - dwaltrip 5y ago
      How old are they?
      - TylerE 5y ago
        Early 70s, but in good health generally
        dwaltrip 5y ago
        Thanks for sharing. I hope they feel better soon.
- x86_64Ubuntu 5y ago
  Keep in mind, that between the "like the flu" and "mild" designator, folks are dismissing the severity of Omicron. But we must keep in mind that "mild" is in reference to "severe" which entails death and ground glass lungs.
  - smileysteve 5y ago
    The pandemic has taught me how little people care about words; "Asymptomatic" now means "just a low grade fever", or "a cough that didn't take me to the hospital" "Allergies" now means "I can barely breathe no matter what environment and I'm tired like I'm taking Claritin, just ignore the color of my sputum or my cough." "It's just the cold or flu" now means "I'm just sick for a week, and I should definitely socialize like normal"
- slickrick216 5y ago
  Very mild is exceptionally accurate. It’s a nothing burger even for unvaccinated people.
  - babypuncher 5y ago
    Then why are our hospitals overloaded with covid patients?
    - slickrick216 5y ago
      They aren’t
      - babypuncher 5y ago
        Are you suggesting that the footage of crowded hospitals and horror stories from my own family members who work in healthcare are entirely fabricated?
etchalon 5y ago
There's no reason to believe that we'll achieve herd immunity to anything beyond Omicron. There's a reason Flu vaccines are a thing you get every year, even if you've had the flu.
- landemva 5y ago
  I don't get the flu vaccine every year.
  - Aeolos 5y ago
    Once you reach a certain age, you really should.
nradov 5y ago
There will be no real herd immunity effect to protect those who lack immunity. Instead virtually everyone is just going to get infected, and most survivors will retain cellular immunity which gives them significant protection against severe symptoms during later reinfections. https://www.businessinsider.com/delta-variant-made-herd-immunity-not-possible-astrazeneca-developer-2021-8?r=US&IR=T https://www.businessinsider.com/delta-variant-made-herd-immu... Fortunately the current vaccines and other therapies are pretty effective at preventing deaths.
scrooched_moose 5y ago
There's no guarantee of that. Omicron seems to be exceptionally capable of infecting both those who had the current vaccines and/or previous variants. Maybe Omicron provides immunity to Rho (or whatever is coming), but it may provide no protection to Sigma.
bsder 5y ago
Medical community Covid "mild" is a far cry from common cold "mild". I had a "mild" Covid Original Flavour. I "only" had a 103 fever for 3 weeks, swellings in places I didn't know could swell, and had my stamina shot to shit. It's been just over a year and I'm just now beginning to feel like I can start bringing myself back to pre-Covid healthiness levels. And all that is "mild". I didn't lose my sense of smell. I didn't lose oxygenation. I never had to go to the emergency room.

rafale 5y ago

It's hard to imagine a more transmissible covid variant for a layman such as myself. I wonder if microbiologists are able to model the maximum theoretical transmission Sars covid is capable of.

nradov 5y ago
I don't think we can model it accurately, but we can look to other viruses as examples. The SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant is still only about half as contagious as measles. https://www.vaccinestoday.eu/stories/what-is-r0/ https://www.vaccinestoday.eu/stories/what-is-r0/

lamontcg 5y ago

And Omicron is an order of magnitude less virulent on hospitalization/deaths per infection basis. The pandemic is never going to be "over" on a case basis, and the virus is never going away, spread will never be zero, variants will always keep happening for decades. Omicron is telling you that its going to be time soon to start thinking about this virus more like a normal cold/flu virus based on its impact.