Possible New Variant that may defeat vaccine
#11
:-)
Joined APC: Feb 2007
Posts: 7,339
So far anecdotal reports only of breakthrough (vaccine or natural).
Also severity not known... make enough changes and it's likely to be change the potency of the bug, for better or worse. Mutations do not inherently correlate to severe disease, in fact evolution doesn't really reward that in the long run (the host population dies off, evolves to evade, or takes deliberate measures to avoid infection in the case of one species). South Africa has very little Delta right now, so there's no clear compare and contrast of Nu vs Delta.
Do you have a link to discussion of enhancement? I haven't seen anything about that yet, but was busy cooking a turkey yesterday.
Also severity not known... make enough changes and it's likely to be change the potency of the bug, for better or worse. Mutations do not inherently correlate to severe disease, in fact evolution doesn't really reward that in the long run (the host population dies off, evolves to evade, or takes deliberate measures to avoid infection in the case of one species). South Africa has very little Delta right now, so there's no clear compare and contrast of Nu vs Delta.
Do you have a link to discussion of enhancement? I haven't seen anything about that yet, but was busy cooking a turkey yesterday.
#12
Gets Weekends Off
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Joined APC: Dec 2017
Position: Retired NJA & AA
Posts: 1,932
"Omicron" now "Variant of Concern"
The WHO has now classified this new mutation as a "Variant of Concern" and given it the name "Omicron":
https://www.who.int/news/item/26-11-...ant-of-concern
The USA has joined the UK in blocking flights from South Africa and 6 other countries in Africa. This affects DL and UAL flights from ATL and EWR that operate 3 to 5 times per week.
They're emphasizing that they don't know for certain that Omicron will more or less contagious than the Delta variant or if it will be more resistant to the vaccines.
https://www.who.int/news/item/26-11-...ant-of-concern
The USA has joined the UK in blocking flights from South Africa and 6 other countries in Africa. This affects DL and UAL flights from ATL and EWR that operate 3 to 5 times per week.
They're emphasizing that they don't know for certain that Omicron will more or less contagious than the Delta variant or if it will be more resistant to the vaccines.
#13
The WHO has now classified this new mutation as a "Variant of Concern" and given it the name "Omicron":
https://www.who.int/news/item/26-11-...ant-of-concern
The USA has joined the UK in blocking flights from South Africa and 6 other countries in Africa. This affects DL and UAL flights from ATL and EWR that operate 3 to 5 times per week.
They're emphasizing that they don't know for certain that Omicron will more or less contagious than the Delta variant or if it will be more resistant to the vaccines.
https://www.who.int/news/item/26-11-...ant-of-concern
The USA has joined the UK in blocking flights from South Africa and 6 other countries in Africa. This affects DL and UAL flights from ATL and EWR that operate 3 to 5 times per week.
They're emphasizing that they don't know for certain that Omicron will more or less contagious than the Delta variant or if it will be more resistant to the vaccines.
The Israelis are going all out to isolate their cases…
Israel Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said on Friday that the country is “on the threshold of an emergency situation” after it detected its first case of omicron, the new South African strain of coronavirus.
The Israeli Health Ministry said it detected the new strain in a traveler who had returned from Malawi, and that it is investigating two other suspected cases, The Associated Press reported.
Bennett said the new variant is more contagious and spreads more rapidly than the delta variant. He added that authorities are still gathering data on how effective the coronavirus vaccines will be against the variant.
“We are currently at the threshold of an emergency situation,” he said, per the AP. “I ask everyone to be prepared and to fully join in the work around the clock.”
The ministry said the three cases were all in vaccinated individuals, though their inoculation details were still being verified, The Times of Israel said.
South African health officials confirmed at a media briefing Thursday the discovery of the new variant called B.1.1529, saying the variant is “very different” from past mutations from the virus.
Israel banned travel from South Africa, Lesotho, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Namibia and Eswatini on Thursday after the variant was detected.
The Israeli military will also contact trace and get in touch with all individuals who have been to red countries within the past week and direct them to go into isolation while testing is carried out, AP reported.
The Israeli Health Ministry said it detected the new strain in a traveler who had returned from Malawi, and that it is investigating two other suspected cases, The Associated Press reported.
Bennett said the new variant is more contagious and spreads more rapidly than the delta variant. He added that authorities are still gathering data on how effective the coronavirus vaccines will be against the variant.
“We are currently at the threshold of an emergency situation,” he said, per the AP. “I ask everyone to be prepared and to fully join in the work around the clock.”
The ministry said the three cases were all in vaccinated individuals, though their inoculation details were still being verified, The Times of Israel said.
South African health officials confirmed at a media briefing Thursday the discovery of the new variant called B.1.1529, saying the variant is “very different” from past mutations from the virus.
Israel banned travel from South Africa, Lesotho, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Namibia and Eswatini on Thursday after the variant was detected.
The Israeli military will also contact trace and get in touch with all individuals who have been to red countries within the past week and direct them to go into isolation while testing is carried out, AP reported.
https://thehill.com/policy/internati...ency-after-its
#16
So it's official, right? US travel ban to 8 south African nations (One of which is South Africa. Capitalization matters.).
Travel bans and lockdowns worked great last time around, so there's that. Already popped up in Belgium and Israel though.
At least "Omicron" sounds sexier than "Delta." As an added bonus, it's doesn't share the name of a certain major airline.
But the ban doesn't apply to returning US citizens/green card holders/others with the proper papers.
---
Feel like we've seen this whole cycle before. Starting with the "it's not that dangerous, so why are we closing air travel?" Odd, because shutting down air travel sounds pretty serious.
Travel bans and lockdowns worked great last time around, so there's that. Already popped up in Belgium and Israel though.
At least "Omicron" sounds sexier than "Delta." As an added bonus, it's doesn't share the name of a certain major airline.
But the ban doesn't apply to returning US citizens/green card holders/others with the proper papers.
---
Feel like we've seen this whole cycle before. Starting with the "it's not that dangerous, so why are we closing air travel?" Odd, because shutting down air travel sounds pretty serious.
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