I noted yesterday, in a comment on The Pirate’s Cove, that The New York Times, not exactly an evil reich-wing source, that Denmark and Norway have reported that the positivity rate in testing for the Xi Omicron variant is virtually the same as the percentage of the population which are fully vaccinated. Statistically speaking, full vaccination status appears to convey close to zero resistance to contracting the Omicron variant:
Denmark and Norway Predict Drastic Spike in Omicron Cases
Health authorities in Europe are warning of a sharp increase in Omicron cases, adding to an existing surge from the Delta variant.
By Carl Zimmer and Emily Anthes | December 13, 2021
Public health authorities in Denmark and Norway on Monday released grim projections for the coming wave of the Omicron coronavirus variant, predicting that it will dominate both countries in a matter of days. Although scientists don’t yet know how often the variant causes severe disease, they say its rapid rate of spread will lead to an explosion of cases and could potentially increase pressure on hospitals, even if it proves to be mild.
The reports follow similarly worrisome findings from England released over the weekend, although researchers caution that the trend could change as the variant comes into clearer view. It’s not yet certain how often Omicron infections will send people to the hospital, or how many hospitalized patients are likely to die. And while Omicron can partly evade immune defenses, researchers have yet to determine how well vaccinations and previous infections will protect people against severe disease.
The authors of both new reports also observed that swift actions now, such as booster campaigns and reducing opportunities for Omicron to spread, could lessen the variant’s impact.
American researchers have yet to release models of Omicron’s rise in the United States. But experts point out that the country is similar to Norway and Denmark in terms of vaccination levels and certain Covid risk factors, like the average age of the population.
Further down:
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In the report released on Monday by the Statens Serum Institute in Copenhagen, researchers estimated that Omicron cases in Denmark were doubling every two days. Omicron is spreading much faster than Delta, which means that the new variant will become dominant by midweek, the report found.
Three-quarters of the Omicron cases are in people who have received two vaccine doses, which is about the same fraction of the entire country that’s fully vaccinated. That high percentage indicates that vaccines are providing little protection from infection, though most scientists believe that the shots will still fend off severe disease and death.
The Danish data are consistent with a smaller report of Omicron infections in the United States. Out of 43 documented cases, 34 — or about 79 percent — were people who were fully vaccinated.
“This thing can spread, and it can spread whether or not you were vaccinated,” Christina Ramirez, a biostatistician at the University of California, Los Angeles, said.
In England, researchers also found that full vaccination provided low protection against a breakthrough infection. But they found that booster shots restored defenses to much higher levels.
There’s more at the original. Now comes The Washington Post:
- Governments will try to impose further indoor mask mandates;
- Governments will try to ‘persuade’ people not to have family gatherings this Christmas;
- Governments will push further vaccine mandates for employers;
- Governments will push further vaccine ‘passports’ to shop, dine, or participate in other indoor events; and
- Governments will try to change the definition of “fully vaccinated” to having also received the booster.
Omicron spreading rapidly in U.S. and could bring punishing wave as soon as January, CDC warns
But federal and some pharmaceutical executives signal they do not currently favor revising vaccines, saying existing regimen plus boosters are effective
Top federal health officials warned in a briefing Tuesday morning that the omicron variant is rapidly spreading in the United States and could peak in a massive wave of infections as soon as January, according to new modeling analyzed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The prevalence of omicron jumped sevenfold in a single week, according to the CDC, and at such a pace, the highly mutated variant of the coronavirus could ratchet up pressure on a health system already strained in many places as the delta variant continues its own surge.
The warning of an imminent surge came even as federal officials and some pharmaceutical executives signaled that they don’t currently favor creating an omicron-specific vaccine. Based on the data so far, they say that existing vaccines plus a booster shot are an effective weapon against omicron.
The CDC briefing Tuesday detailed two scenarios for how the omicron variant may spread through the country. The worst-case scenario has spooked top health officials, who fear that a fresh wave, layered on top of delta and influenza cases in what one described as “a triple whammy,” could overwhelm health systems and devastate communities, particularly those with low vaccination rates.
“I’m a lot more alarmed. I’m worried,” said Marcus Plescia, chief medical officer for the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, who participated in the call. The CDC, normally cautious in its messaging, told the public health officials that “we got to get people ready for this,” he said.
He noted that the omicron surge, if it materializes as forecast, would be taking place as delta continues its onslaught and during the time of year when influenza cases often peak.
Not noted here is that flu season was mostly skipped last winter, attributed to the coronavirus restrictions.
- Officials stress that early data shows that individuals who are fully vaccinated and received a booster shot remain largely protected against severe illness and death from omicron. But they worry about how few Americans have been boosted to date. Over 55 million people in the United States have gotten the additional shots, out of 200 million who are fully vaccinated, according to the CDC.
There’s more at the original, but you can count on several things:
Israel has already required that booster to be considered fully vaccinated.
You don’t have to be a conspiracy theorist to note that if there was an actual conspiracy to more greatly subjugate the population to greater government control, the conspirators wouldn’t do much differently than is already being done.
The vaccines weren’t doing that great a job in preventing COVID-19 infections, though they did seem to reduce the seriousness of associated illnesses. Now they seem to be doing nothing to stop the Xi Omicron variant from infecting people, and it may be that Omicron may be less virulent anyway.
My whole family have taken the vaccines, and my wife — who is a hospital RN — and I have taken the boosters as well. To us, that’s a wise decision. But my thinking that it’s a wise decision does not mean that I in any way approve of mask mandates, vaccine mandates, and vaccine passports; preventative measures should be voluntary, up to individuals, and not the government. ‘It’s for our own good’ is not, and never has been, a reason for people to surrender their rights.