A medical technician at a testing center, Houston, Texas, July 7, 2020 (Callaghan O’Hare/Reuters)
Marking two years of the Coronavirus pandemic, I joined Times Radio’s Nadira Tudor on Friday for reflections on the worst and — far more importantly — the best of us during the crisis.
We talk politics, society, disinformation, and the personal: how to thank those who risked their lives to save others, how to value contact and friendship even as we had to keep our distance from each other, and how to build a new life — at home, at work, and in public events — as we deal with an endemic virus.
Covid Scotland: Case rates lowest in unvaccinated as double-jabbed elderly drive rise in hospital admissions: https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/19843315.covid-scotland-case-rates-lowest-unvaccinated-double-jabbed-elderly-drive-rise-hospital-admissions/
“Double-jabbed Scots are now more likely to be admitted to hospital with Covid than the unvaccinated amid an increase in elderly people falling ill due to waning immunity. It comes amid “weird” data showing that case rates have been lower in unvaccinated individuals than the single, double, or even triple-jabbed since Omicron became the dominant variant in Scotland.”
I have tested positive for Covid (Omicron). Symptoms include fever, fatigue and a headache – much less severe than when I first contracted Covid 2 years ago. The danger is that as it is so infectious and transmissible, people will lose days of work to sickness having a big impact on the economy. In Israel, the number of serious cases has tripled in recent weeks: https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/serious-covid-cases-spike-as-omicron-wave-engulfs-israel-1.10524711
[Editor’s Note: Varharan misrepresents the article as experts saying that Omicron will “help” end the pandemic.
In fact, specialists have long projected that the virus would mutate into a less lethal and injurious, if more transmissible version. And none cited in this article represent “herd immunity” as a positive plan of action, rather than a consequence of Omicron’s virulence.
A transition from pandemic to endemic is “not a light switch and there’s no metrics associated with what endemic means for COVID-19,” says Syra Madad, a doctor of health care science and infectious disease epidemiologist at Harvard’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs.
“Instead, we should continue to focus on decreasing transmission rates and preventing our hospitals from getting overwhelmed,” she says.]
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Officials and scientists are openly talking about how “herd immunity” through mass infection by the Omicron variant will help end the pandemic: https://www.webmd.com/lung/news/20220106/omicron-pandemic-endemic
Omicron could burn through the U.S. — and potentially hasten the Covid pandemic’s end, says expert: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/12/22/omicron-could-potentially-hasten-the-covid-pandemics-end-says-expert.html
“Survivors could emerge with a degree of so-called “natural immunity” that could *help” protect against Covid’s next variant of concern.”