What do you make of "Omicron" (COVID Variant B.1.1.529)? Big deal? No big deal?

From what I heard is, Covid is set to continually mutate to a point where it becomes a common cold. The African variant is suppose to have minimal effect. Not sure why governments are panicking.

 

It's gonna be one helluva winter.

 

I thank you very much, Dr. Center, and I've shared your observations (and wisdom) with my wife and friends. We are not 'locked-down', but because I have been the only one in our household that does any routine shopping for over a year and a half, I observe very strict behaviors that include an American-made (Houston, Texas) N-95 mask, wearing those 5-mil nitrile gloves (I still believe in them), spraying the hell out of many things with Lysol, wiping down all 'incoming' packages and groceries in packages with disinfectant tissues, taking copious amounts of vitamins, minerals, etc., daily exercise, and avoiding ALL congregation points.

This hasn't been difficult because, as 'senior citizens', we hadn't made a habit of frequenting 'mosh-pits', going to 'rap concerts', going to restaurants or theaters, and other 'gatherings and carnivals'....

I try to choose my words carefully, and accordingly, I REVERE your advice, your assessments, your analyses, and I would be honored to know you in 'real life'. I've started a special folder in my personal documents called, "Dr. Center", and every word you've posted is going in there. Thank you, for I genuinely feel that it is persons like YOU who have already saved numerous lives, and will surely save even more... even though you've had to contend with a number of 'headwinds' in order to share TRUTH concerning these viruses with us.

. Pour le Mérite

 

While I can hope you're right, I would read ALL of the posts written in this Forum by @CenterField before I make any assumptions about anything regarding this virus or its 'mutant variants'. The human race has proven to be very resilient and hardy so far, but, 'never-say-never'.... All the best to you!

 

Thanks again, you're always very kind. What you are doing, all good, but you don't really need to wipe down packages and groceries. Fomite transmission, once thought to be important, is now considered to be extremely unlikely. The emphasis now has been much more on quality masks and well-ventilated spaces, than on spraying things with Lysol and disinfecting everything. It turns out that the virus is not that resilient once it settles on surfaces, and tests that detected virus on surfaces were actually detecting broken down, non-infectious residues. Restaurants frenetically disinfecting tables would do much better if instead, they opened up wide windows, got some big fans and air purifiers, and made sure their personnel got well-sealed N95s. I'd laugh if it weren't sad, when I see a busboy frenetically wiping down a table for a customer, while wearing a cloth mask below his nose.

 

Good posting, dude.

 

No thanks, he/she believes masks are great. Medical masks in Europe must comply with the European standard EN 14683, which have 3 levels of bacterial filtration efficiency (BFE1, BFE2, Type R). In the US medical masks must comply with ASTM standards, which have three levels of protection (from low risk of exposure to fluids to high risk of exposure to fluids).

Unfortunately, COVID is much smaller than a bacteria and thus masks have some to low benefit. They were advised to wear when social distancing couldn't be maintained. They dupe people into a false sense of security. If masks worked, you wouldn't need to lock down or have restrictions.

I suggest anyone who disagrees, go get an N95 mask, a brick wall and an angle grinder. Start cutting the mortar and after a short while, hands up who's teeth feels gritty.

 

In South Africa, COVID patients stayed in hospital for an average of 2.8 days due to the Omicron variant vs. the 8.5 days of previous waves.

 

I found quite a few of masks you mentioned at amazon.de

https://www.amazon.de/Medizinisch-z...d=1639841050&sprefix=en+14683,aps,373&sr=8-13

As you said, they are three-layer masks. In your opinion, are they better than our American-made KN-95 masks?

I may try some of them anyway... Ordering from European amazon is often easy (but you must be sure that the product you want can be delivered here in the States).

 

American-made KN95 masks? If this was not a typo, the KN95 standard is a Chinese standard. Why would American makers go for that standard instead of our own American standard, NIOSH/CDC's N95s? Would it be because they can't pass the American standard, then they go for the Chinese one? I'd stay away. Ever since true N95s were back in the market, there was no reason to go for a KN95, which remains true to this day. Even non-counterfeit (60% of the KN95s sold in the American market are counterfeit, according to the CDC) KN95 masks will still seal worse than an N95 because the former uses ear loops while the latter uses head bands, which are generally better for a good seal.

 

You're right... I didn't mean to say "KN95", but I got sloppy. I really meant to say "N95", made by a company called "BNX" in Houston, Texas. I've had two shipments of these masks in the past 12 months and I have liked them because they fit well and don't make it more difficult to breathe -- especially with a plastic insert called a "Cool Turtle" placed inside the mask... but there are many such devices sold on the market today.

 

What do you make of "Omicron" (COVID Variant B.1.1.529)? Big deal? No big deal?

It is a huge deal if it proves in the end to be milder than delta because it appears it will put delta out of business quickly. If it produces less severe symptoms it will be a boon. If not, it will will be worse than delta because it is definitely more contagious. It would make sense for a virus to mutate into a strain that is more contagious but less harmful. The contagion would help it spread. If it stops killing its hosts it will help the spread as well. It is how natural selection works. What is good for the virus might actually be good for us as well. Fingers crossed.

 

Okay, I surrender and plead ignorance to changing definitions.

I'll let Charles Cote, MD, explain it:

"The greatest problem with the literature is that there is no single definition for a URI."

The Upper Respiratory Tract Infection (URI) Dilemma: Fear of a Complication or Litigation?
Anesthesiology August 2001, Vol. 95, 283–285.

Yes, changing, expanding, or differing definitions are a problem. If you do legal research, you see that everywhere, not just in the medical field.

Now that we're all on the same page, we can move forward.

 

No, "we" can't. I'm a freaking medical doctor with 41 years of experience. You're not (maybe you're a lawyer; cool). Don't try to teach me my field, and I won't try to teach you yours.

 

At the rated spreading it certainly showcasing how masks work...lol

 

Do you know of any reliable data that differentiates Omicron-related symptom severity and hospitalisation between individuals with booster vaccination status and those with 2nd dose vaccination status?

I imagine there are a few people who had unpleasant reactions to their 2nd vaccine dose who are on the fence about whether they should go for a booster?

 

If you got astra Zeneca your fist shot would have been the one that floored you, with Pfizer it was generally the second dose. I have had the booster and did not even get a new hair curl (and I was HOPING )

 

Early data from Australia is suggesting the vaccinations are working. My state just “opened up” but we are at over 90% vaccinated with one dose and over 85% double vaccinated

Cases of Omicron have been doubling with over 3,500 in just a few days BUT 70 in hospital with only four of those having been admitted due to “Covid symptoms”. Zero in ICU

Early days and keep your fingers crossed for us

 

Booster protection wanes against symptomatic Omicron infections, British data suggests.

"Among people who received two doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, a booster with one of the mRNA vaccines, made by Pfizer and Moderna, was 60 percent effective at preventing symptomatic disease two to four weeks after the shot. After 10 weeks, however, the Pfizer booster was just 35 percent effective. The Moderna booster was 45 percent effective at up to nine weeks. (The AstraZeneca vaccine is not authorized in the United States, but the Johnson & Johnson shot uses a similar technology.)

For people who were given three Pfizer doses, vaccine effectiveness dropped from 70 percent one week after the booster to 45 percent after 10 weeks. Pfizer recipients who received a Moderna booster, on the other hand, seemed to fare better; their vaccine regimen remained up to 75 percent effective at up to nine weeks."

~SNIP

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/23/health/booster-protection-omicron.html

_________________________________________________
This kind of answers my question. above.

I'm booked in for Moderna booster, 10th Jan.

Already have Pfizer 1 and 2

 

I have had no reactions so far.

It's funny, every second (new wave) Conservative here reports some kind of reaction to the vaccine. And they swear that neighbours Fred Blogs and Marjorie Wilson weren't the same since they got the jab.

 

Much ado about nothing.

 

Actually, no. But I am not holding my breath hoping you will actually deal in facts and figures instead of propaganda and nasty politics.

Without the use of masks, the spread of Omikron, which is already terrible, would definitely be 10-20 times more terrible.

One would think that after 22 months, you would have finally realized what masks do and don't.

What a shame.

 

That being said, just today, for the first time ever in it's C19 history, Australia has sailed over +10,000 fresh infections.



I just started tracking Australia a number of days back and this info is incomplete, which is why you see crazy numbers for the 7-day rolling average for 2021-12-001 through 007 - as I flesh in the data from last month, those calculations will then be correct. But you can see that from the 8th through today (27th), the 7-day rolling average has soared from +1,717 to +8,200, a massive uptick, to say the least.

 

I'll make one suggestion about the possible benefit of wearing masks (I'm not a physician) --

Because virus transmission seems to be in the form of coughs, sneezes, and other exudations and secretions of body fluids which are spewed or leaked around in the air or on a variety of surfaces which other people come into contact with, wearing a mask can, at least, contain such spew and/or leakage to one person (i.e., the mask-wearer).

Also, even though the material in the mask itself (even the decently-made ones) cannot be imagined to filter out things so tiny as viruses, the masks may, indeed, be effective in trapping those same body fluids which contain the viruses that I mentioned above!

Situation: Person 'A' (who is infected), blows out a big sneeze in the grocery store. A big vapor-cloud of spew containing the virus blows out all around Person 'A', and Person 'B' walks right into it, or, has the vapor-cloud envelope him. Now -- if Person 'B' is wearing a decently-made N-95 mask, there is a good probability that the spew-particles and the embedded viruses will become trapped in the layers of the mask, because of the relative viscosity of the spew-particles themselves!

So, I always (ALWAYS) wear an N-95 mask when I go to public places, and, when I get out again, I always spray the INSIDE of my mask with Lysol spray before I wear it again. Hint: I suggest that you always have two masks with you, because you'll want to have one mask that has 'dried' already... it won't really be possible to breathe freely using a mask that you have just sprayed Lysol into. Just rotate the masks and that way you'll have a disinfected mask surface next to your skin while the other one is drying-out.

Hope that helps... so far I ain't caught this virus yet... and, I'm 'vaxxed-to-the-max'....

 

Proof?

I know exactly what masks do and don't do. More than you.

If you can smell ****. Covid can get in. Perfume particles are larger than covid.

If the mask isn't sealed around your face covid will escape out or sneak in. Provided your eyeballs don't suck it in first.

If you don't wash your phone everytime you wash your hands you are not doing anything effective

If you have access to rub your eyes while you are out in high risk hot spots you are more likely to unwillingly infect yourself.

If you wear a mask you are more likely to adjust it hundreds of times throughout the day with your possibly infected hands. So your risk of accidental infection actually goes up.

If you have covid and you sneeze, the particle will escape out of your theatre mask and become airborne. It doesn't matter if the particle escapes directly from your mouth or escaping through the side of your cheek being deflected from the mask once it's airborne it's airborne. And once airborne the particle can remain in the air for minutes to hours so you haven't done s***.

Masks are theatre. You have no ****ing good example of them working because covid is spread at will. Incase you haven't seen the numbers on mandates versus no mandates. Masks vs no masks. Nothing changes.

You would think by now people would have had half a brain to think the logic of this stuff through while looking at the numbers.

If you don't want to get infected, don't leave your house. Its that simple.

Don't assume I don't know the consequences of wearing masks.