> Seems to me that Omicron is essentially a vaccine in its own right. Highly attenuated and extremely mild to non-existent symptoms. > The best part is even th

> Seems to me that Omicron is essentially a vaccine in its own right. Highly attenuated and extremely mild to non-existent symptoms. > The best part is even the anti-vax crowd will be innoculated! I don't think it's anything close to "highly attenuated": https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/01/25/world/omicron-covid-vaccine-tests/omicron-infections-lead-to-fewer-hospitalizations-than-delta-a-cdc-report-finds https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/01/25/world/omicron-covid-... > The C.D.C. attributed the tendency of Omicron cases to cause less severe illness to the virus itself, as well as growing levels of immunity from prior infections and from the rollout of vaccinations. It said that roughly 30 million more people were fully vaccinated during the Omicron surge than during the Delta wave in the fall. > As a result, a smaller proportion of coronavirus cases are ending in hospitalizations: The C.D.C. said there had been a peak of 27 hospital admissions for every 1,000 cases in January, compared with 78 admissions per 1,000 cases in the fall. If it were "highly attenuated," I'd expect close to 0 hospital admissions for every 1,000 cases, not 27. Exaggerating "less severe" to "near harmless" is one of those errors anti-vax people and other denialists commonly make in their arguments.