I still have higher IgG antibody levels 6 months after my booster than I had from dose 2. Omicron doesn’t scare me. And my kids have natural immunity already, unfortunately.
its the RNC, a political body that will do political things she was answering the question if Biden got covid he would have it more seriously than someone in their 20s… her answer is correct, we don’t know that… there are plenty old folks that have no symptoms from covid … and there are healthy <60s and kids dying form it… it’s one of the weird thing about covid and the video cutoff on ‘we are taking extra precautions’… meaning he is in the higher risk group so extra precaution is something they are doing she’s not clueless, the RNC basically “lied” to present it that way
Blame RNC Research for "effects". While we know that COVID clearly causes more "immediate" deaths among older folks, we do not know the long term affects of COVID on the young.
On the waive the patent for pandemics front.... Countries Try to Win Support for Deal to Waive Patent Protections on Covid-19 Vaccines - WSJ After 18 months of fierce debate, a group of countries, including the U.S., has reached an agreement to waive patent protections on Covid-19 vaccines. Now they are racing to get other countries to support the deal at the World Trade Organization, officials involved in the discussions said. The U.S. and the European Union have reached a compromise with South Africa and India that would allow developing countries to manufacture Covid-19 vaccines without the permission of the holder of the intellectual-property rights. It also would set a precedent for future pandemics.
Facing realization of the impossibility of covid zero policy with Omicron, sign that China is moving away from it... plus, it looks like they will soon approve the use of mRNA vaccines Chinese President Vows to Control Covid Outbreak With Smallest Cost - WSJ Chinese President Xi Jinping vowed to reduce the impact of Covid-control measures on the economy and people’s lives, a first acknowledgment from the Chinese leadership of the costs of the government’s stringent policies to rein in outbreaks. As other countries have moved away from lockdowns and social distancing, Beijing has touted the success of its draconian measures in keeping the number of cases low, despite a mounting toll on its people and economy. However, Chinese officials have scrambled to boost confidence in the Chinese economy as the more contagious Omicron variant of the coronavirus has prompted a surge in cases. The costs of fighting outbreaks add to recent headwinds, as Mr. Xi’s campaign of regulatory tightening last year has slowed economic momentum more than expected. The geopolitical crisis over the war in Ukraine, and the potential costs to China of its recent alignment with Russia, have also rattled investors’ nerves. In a Thursday meeting of the Politburo Standing Committee, the Communist Party’s top decision-making body, Mr. Xi asked officials to minimize the impact on the Chinese economy and people’s lives from Covid-19 control measures, according to the official Xinhua News Agency. ...
I guess I'm just in a good mood, but wouldn't it be great if both COVID and deranged Putin pushed China to strengthen their dialogue with the West?
Who has said S.Korea (or anyone) did everything right? Classic strawman. Was it Nick that argued cases no longer matter? In any case, S.Korea rolled back restrictions after Delta and before Omicron and has been living normally with crowded bars. Not unexpected to see a big surge with Asia going through their Omicron wave now. As for comparison... yea, no.
loved one got iphone notice of covid "possible exposure" "4 days ago" but they stayed home that day. She did have dinner with a traveller friend last night and HE had been exposed 4 days earlier (and tested negative every day since). Does that automated thing do second-hand exposure? She's very confused. I told her to just do the antigen test a few times and use it as an excuse to WFH for a while!
There'd only be a groan amongst stupid people. The point was always to delay Covid until either it disappeared or it was less deadly (due to mutation, therapeutics, vaccine, etc). It sounds like they did that perfectly. If they get a shitton of omicron cases that don't kill anyone, then they did exactly what was hoped: save a ton of their citizens' lives.
This guy's comment doesn't make much sense without context. South Korean adults have a pretty high rate of second and third vaccination, and given the relatively smaller possibility of severe illness from omicron, the government in recent months made a calculated risk of softening social distancing and other measures in order to ease the burden on the economy. (Everyone and their kids are still required to wear masks in public places, at workplaces, and in schools, regardless of vaccination status.) The fact that the infection rate is rocketing up to over 500,000 a day in South Korea tells me that omicron is indeed highly contagious as advertised. At the same time, the death rate has remained relatively low, which makes me assume that vaccination has probably helped and the government's play was probably the right one. In other words, the way covid is being handled in South Korea is much different now than, say, three months ago or anytime last year. It's not just a matter of "doing everything right and yet cases are going up." You said what I wanted to say, but more succinctly.
It's always hard to compare apple to apple sauce. 21% of S.Korea are older than 65. I think that's the highest in the world. It's a bigger for them to manage as they go through these waves going forward. It will be interesting to see how much vax and booster hold up there among their senior.
A while back, I tried to understand how Google and Apple track this. They use bluetooth signal strength, which should provide feet of accuracy. Duration is based on that too. Good in theory but it hasn't been adopted much at all in the US and so hard to validate effectiveness... personally, I would trust it as an accurate exposure and test away.
