Omicron. A blessing in disguise?

[scott h]

I might be adding 2 plus 2 and getting 5 here. If as reported this is a more virulent strain, but less deadly isnt that a good sign?

It has been over two weeks now and I have not been hearing of any massive die offs like we saw in India and Indonesia a few months ago, nor have I heard of Icu beds overflowing. Even in South Africa where the Jab rate is very low it seems that most cases have been mild to moderate. 

Isnt this a good sign? I remember reading about in the 1800's if someone got measles parents would bring their kids to that house to get them exposed and develop immunity. If this is a milder strain shouldnt we be jumping for joy?

 

[Dave Hounddriver]

10 minutes ago, scott h said:

Isnt this a good sign? I remember reading about in the 1800's if someone got measles parents would bring their kids to that house to get them exposed and develop immunity. If this is a milder strain shouldnt we be jumping for joy?

Very good point.  If it really is a milder strain that is not overhelming the medical profession then Covid Parties are in order to get it spread around and get heard immunity.  With luck, immunity to Omicron will also be immunity to Kodachrome or whatever they name the next variant.

[graham59]

But kodachrome isn't an anagram of 'moronic'. 

(How my fully-vaccinated Mrs likely felt about the checkpoint turning her back at a town border up here today, when trying to attend a wedding  )  

[jimeve]

4 hours ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

Very good point.  If it really is a milder strain that is not overhelming the medical profession then Covid Parties are in order to get it spread around and get heard immunit

Heard that herd immunity too 

[hk blues]

7 hours ago, scott h said:

I might be adding 2 plus 2 and getting 5 here. If as reported this is a more virulent strain, but less deadly isnt that a good sign?

It has been over two weeks now and I have not been hearing of any massive die offs like we saw in India and Indonesia a few months ago, nor have I heard of Icu beds overflowing. Even in South Africa where the Jab rate is very low it seems that most cases have been mild to moderate. 

Isnt this a good sign? I remember reading about in the 1800's if someone got measles parents would bring their kids to that house to get them exposed and develop immunity. If this is a milder strain shouldnt we be jumping for joy?

 

I don't think the concern is as much about the variant in itself as much as would it "evade" the vaccines. 

[scott h]

3 hours ago, hk blues said:

would it "evade" the vaccines.

True, but if the reports out of South Africa are true, they have a very low jab rate, so "logically" if this was a bad strain they would be dropping like flies. Most cases seem to be mild to moderate.

We seem to have entered a zero risk society. Last time I looked there is no law anywhere in the world that says "Ye shall not get the flu!"

[GeoffH]

1 hour ago, scott h said:

True, but if the reports out of South Africa are true, they have a very low jab rate, so "logically" if this was a bad strain they would be dropping like flies. Most cases seem to be mild to moderate.

South Africa (and even more so most of the rest of Africa) has a young population and the virus is much more of a problem for those who are  older (and have comorbidities).

Basically young skinny Africans are much less likely to get seriously ill or die than fat white guys.

So... not sure you can read too much into the South African numbers, we'll need to wait until it's spread more in western countries to see if it's actually less dangerous I think.

Edited December 10, 2021 by GeoffH

[Jollygoodfellow]

5 hours ago, hk blues said:

I don't think the concern is as much about the variant in itself as much as would it "evade" the vaccines. 

What I was reading just before on studies of this covid type was that the vaccines are not effective at stopping you getting it which is the same for all vaccines we have already had and most people will just have mild cases so dont see this as much different than other strains at this point.

[Jollygoodfellow]

13 hours ago, scott h said:

shouldnt we be jumping for joy?

She wont be home from work until after 2am and I wont be jumping.

 

[earthdome]

7 hours ago, hk blues said:

I don't think the concern is as much about the variant in itself as much as would it "evade" the vaccines. 

But if the omicron cases are mild in comparison to the previous variants. Who cares whether the vaccine protects you or not. As the original posting speculated, this could be a very good thing that replaces the need for vaccines and leads to herd immunity. That is until next season when the next mutant version arrives, much like how the flu changes every season.