Sorry to hear. Hopefully it’s a short stint and she bounces back. All the best.
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Y'all might want to keep an eye out for change of plans. Stealth Covid BA.2
- Thread starter MacDoc
- Start date
Very sorry to hear that.
New omicron variant is one of the most infectious diseases ever known
Authorities prepare for another wave of cases, but two new studies are suggesting vaccines and therapeutics are effective against the highly contagious BA.2 variant.
Oh good. Right after the election. So we can have another lockdown just in time for Christmas /sNew omicron variant is one of the most infectious diseases ever known
Authorities prepare for another wave of cases, but two new studies are suggesting vaccines and therapeutics are effective against the highly contagious BA.2 variant.www.afr.com
DownUnder
Well-known member
I'm going to be that guy again, a lot of wordplay in the snippet. The article is paywalled, but from the 2 paragraphs that are shown, it says ""new studies have confirmed vaccines and antiviral medicines seem to be as effective against the BA.2 “stealth” omicron variant as the original BA.1 strain." ....New omicron variant is one of the most infectious diseases ever known
Authorities prepare for another wave of cases, but two new studies are suggesting vaccines and therapeutics are effective against the highly contagious BA.2 variant.
Are the studies peer reviewed? The vaccines were not very effective at all vs omicron to begin with as shown by how infectious it was even among the vaccinated.
There are studies now that show the vaccines effectiveness wane quite quickly, so people would need to be boosting constantly between now and fall to get the little immunity they can from the current crop of vaccines. I feel this article is just fear mongering for next falls flu season.
You seem not to understand what vaccines are for. They do not prevent spread, masks and distancing do that tho a lower viral load helps.
Vaccines work to prevent a serious outcome if you do catch it.
What your opinion is of an article you can't read means sweet **** all. But here you go. Asking about peer review in a virus moving this quickly just illustrates your lack of knowledge.
Vaccines work to prevent a serious outcome if you do catch it.
What your opinion is of an article you can't read means sweet **** all. But here you go. Asking about peer review in a virus moving this quickly just illustrates your lack of knowledge.
New omicron variant is one of the most infectious diseases ever known
Tom BurtonGovernment editor
Mar 11, 2022 – 5.46pm
A new strain of omicron coronavirus, believed to be among the most infectious diseases known to mankind, is predicted to cause another nationwide surge of cases during autumn.
But new studies have confirmed vaccines and antiviral medicines seem to be as effective against the BA.2 “stealth” omicron variant as the original BA.1 strain.
The reassuring studies came as health authorities look to expand the vaccination booster program ahead of an expected national autumn wave from the more contagious BA.2 variant.
Less than two thirds of adult Australians have had a third dose of COVID-19 vaccine with authorities predicting the BA.2 sub-variant of omicron is about to cause another surge in cases.
The wave is coming earlier than was predicted putting pressure on authorities and businesses to gear up for a period of high worker and student absenteeism and demands for rapid testing.
The BA.2 variant is “fitter” than the original BA.1 omicron variant and is already dominant in the UK, Denmark, Hong Kong and India, with Australia predicted to follow the UK path, where the BA.2 variant is now being seen in 80 per cent of cases.
Virologists and modellers had observed the BA.2 variant is very different to the earlier omicron variant that saw a massive spike in case in January, suggesting that it may escape from vaccines and other antiviral treatments.
In Denmark, there are some BA.2 cases where people who were infected with the original omicron variant have been reinfected.
But the UK Health Security Agency reported Thursday studies confirming “vaccine effectiveness against symptomatic disease was similar for BA.1 and BA.2 sublineages of omicron”.
At the same time a Japanese study released in The New England Journal of Medicine showed antiviral therapies, including Pfizer’s Paxlovid pill, remained effective against the BA.2 omicron variant.
The lab study also suggested a number of monoclonal antibody combinations neutralised the BA.2 variant, but required greater dosages.
“The bottom line is we have antibodies that appear to be more effective against BA.2 compared with BA.1 or BA.1.1 (another omicron subvariant),” Yoshihiro Kawaoka, a virologist at the UW School of Veterinary Medicine and the University of Tokyo told Science Daily.
“That’s good news, but we don’t know whether what we found in the lab translates into clinical settings,” Dr Kawaoka said.
In Victoria, where the BA.2 variant is now appearing in 20 per cent of cases, the state government announced more than 20 Bunnings stores in outer metro and regional areas would host pop-up vaccination sites.
Popular shopping markets such as the CBD Queen Victoria market and festivals such as the Swan Hill Food and Wine festival are also being targeted with vaccination clinics as the state seeks to lift booster shots above the current 62 per cent coverage of adults.
UNSW modeller Dr James Wood is predicting the more contagious BA.2 omicron variant will gradually take over from its sibling BA.1, driving a new wave of cases which he predicts will reach between 20,000 to 30,000 in NSW in April, peaking in May. The state reported 14,304 cases on Friday.
NSW is also upping its vaccination campaigns after booster rates stalled at 56 per cent of the adult population.
Dr Wood said other states are expected to follow the same pattern suggesting a national wave similar in size to what NSW was seeing in mid- to late-January.
South Australian epidemiologist Professor Adrian Esterman warned the BA.2 variant could be as contagious as any known disease.
“Omicron BA.2 is about 1.4 times more infectious than BA.1. The basic reproduction number (R0) for BA.1 is about 8.2, making R0 for BA.2 about 12,” Professor Esterman said.
“This makes it pretty close to measles, the most contagious disease we know about.”
Why you should be concerned about the omicron ‘stealth’ virus
Virologists track omicron mutant as Hong Kong deaths hit record highs
While there is no evidence the BA.2 variant causes greater disease Melbourne University epidemiologist Professor Nancy Baxter cautioned it would cause higher levels of hospitalisation and acute sickness.
“If 10 per cent of people get quite ill, it could be a larger number if you have 10 times as many people who are getting it. That 10 per cent becomes 10 times as many people,” she said.
The BA.2 virus is known as a stealth virus because, unlike the earlier omicron variant, it is not identified by normal testing
DownUnder
Well-known member
Ohhhh you mean vaccine... the word that the CDC changed the meaning of after its inception 200 years ago?
Vaccines previously were defined in the dictionary and by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as inoculants that "produce immunity to a specific disease." But last September, as the failure of the COVID-19 vaccines to "produce immunity" was realized, the CDC changed the definition. Now the CDC defines a vaccine as "a preparation that is used to stimulate the body's immune response against diseases."
The new definition contains nothing about the sufficiency of the immune response stimulated by the vaccine. Presumably a preparation that produces even an insufficient immune response can be considered a vaccine now.
If the new strain is the most infectious disease known to man... why is it waiting till next fall to attack us all? Why hasn't half the world population already got it?
- better add earflaps to the tinfoil hat.:format(webp)/https://www.thestar.com/content/dam/thestar/news/world/2022/03/12/are-we-done-yet-maybe-but-covid-19-isnt-done-with-us/covid.jpg)
Are we done yet? Maybe — but COVID-19 isn’t done with us
People have been talking about getting back to normal since the start of the pandemic. And at every turn, the concept of normal recedes into the distance. Until the point where, in the U.S., 21,000 deaths in the past two weeks is what normal looks like, Edward Keenan writes.
I hate to be a storm crow but
This is so not over....
This is so not over....
I know that. You know that. Politicians dont care about reality. They care about perception and politics. They are done caring about covid. Every person for themselves.
sburns
Well-known member
It's seems strange this COVID situation. It's looking like all the restrictions will be lifted by next week sometime. But we never achieved this herd immunity and the virus didn't go away but maybe it petered out? Don't get me wrong happy for things to come back to normal and we probably need to.
Though some part of me believes the real truth of this COVID situation will be revealed in a few years when it's all really done. I know I know sounds very conspiracy theory, but something about this doesn't seem right.
Though some part of me believes the real truth of this COVID situation will be revealed in a few years when it's all really done. I know I know sounds very conspiracy theory, but something about this doesn't seem right.
I'm not believing it's petered out. My entire family has the plague right now. 30% of my wifes department at work has the plague. Sounds like a great time to ditch all measures that may be effective. Bleeping politicians.
It is actually rising fast right now in the rest of the world I think we will pay a price for this. But people are tired of following rules so the rules are going away.
Sent using a thumb maybe 2
I don't think it's conspiracy theory. There were a few conspiracy theories at the start where it turned out maybe they're not so bad (i.e.: lab grown / released vs the meat market in China).
I personally don't think we'll ever see / know the real truth.
And as for @MacDoc's note...I feel we will pay the price for this. Maybe not the majority of the people that are afflicted and are vaccinated (even the unvaccinated that go through it with little effect)...but our health system will once again feel the crush.
I betcha Doug is hoping all this crush will happen AFTER the election...not before.
Way more political runway for the war than COVID
Our Government really does but have to do anything other than show up for Photo Ops and hand out money. 5 ministers in Europe last week.
JT’s popularity is climbing again and now going back to Europe with Biden to ramp up further.
Last thing he wants to do is to be talking about COVID or putting restrictions in place.
Our Government really does but have to do anything other than show up for Photo Ops and hand out money. 5 ministers in Europe last week.
JT’s popularity is climbing again and now going back to Europe with Biden to ramp up further.
Last thing he wants to do is to be talking about COVID or putting restrictions in place.
I was especially impressed that they wasted zelensky's time and then offered him hopes and prayers. Useless twats. If there were bombs falling on Ottawa, the rats would all flee to safety and there would be nobody left (maybe Hillier as he seems detached from reality).
Doug doesn’t care at this point. He spent the last 2 years pleading with people to be responsible, follow the rules and be patient. If the general public has decided to tough it out then Doug is off the hook if things get worse.
But he hasn't really done anything to prepare us for another surge...no new health care facilities, no additional spending to increase ICU capacity, zero...sure he gave a few $/hr to workers...but overall he had 2+ years to prepare the province/healthcare for more surgers...he didn't.
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