Omicron variant concerns
I think a valid criticism of the federal govt is that a highly transmissible COVID variant was very likely. So to be caught flat-footed without sufficient availability of tests is not something that can be excused.
Beyond that, people have been advised to wear masks, distance, and get a booster even before omicron. So it's questionable to suggest that the failure of many people to do so is the fault of the government. A lot of people have simply ignored the advice.
So 100 plus million people have been ignoring weeks of recent positive news about the value of boosters, including studies from Israel, because months ago the government was insufficiently decisive about the when and who of boosters. Hmmm. Show me.
In the meanwhile, for those who want to be proactive considering what is currently available:
Additional Local Covid Testing Days This Week
No appointment needed!
South Orange Maplewood Board of Education, 525 Academy Street, Maplewood
Wednesday, January 5th, 3- 6 pm
Thursday, January 6th, 3 – 6 pm
Friday, January 7th, 3 – 6 pm
Saturday, January 8th, 9 am – 3 pm
PCR and Rapid tests are available for anyone 6 months and older. There are NO OUT OF POCKET COSTS. Those with insurance must bring insurance card and valid identification. Those without insurance must bring valid identification and will be given a form to complete. After this week, this location will resume its normal hours, Saturdays, 9 am to 3 pm and Wednesdays, 4 pm to 6 pm, until further notice.
You Can Order Free at Home Covid -19 TestsNew Jersey and Vault Medical Services have teamed up to offer at home COVID 19 saliva testing for any person who believes they need to be tested, with or without symptoms, at no cost. Go to https://learn.vaulthealth.com/nj/ to order a test.
Get Vaccinated, a Booster, or a Third Shot County vaccination sites are open on a walk-in basis. If you want to make a reservation you can by calling 973-877-8456. Moderna, Pfizer, and J&J booster (and third) shots are available. Site locations and hours are:
Essex County College, 177 West Market Street, Newark
Former Kmart building, 236 Prospect Avenue, West Orange
Former Sears building, 112 Eisenhower Parkway, Livingston
Adult hours are Monday to Saturday, 9 am to 4 pm
Free Rides to Vaccination Appointments Dial 211 to schedule your ride after making vaccination arrangements! Do not let transportation stop you and your family/friends from getting vaccinated. Rides are available free of charge to vaccination sites wherever Lyft services are available provided your vaccination site is no more than 25 miles from home. To use this service, you must have a phone that receives and sends text messages. Rides can be schedule as early as a week in advance but must be scheduled at least 24 hours in advance of your vaccination date. This program is open to everyone, including people with collapsible wheelchairs and walkers. Personal aides are welcome to ride along.
tjohn said:
In theory, I would agree that the CDC could issue a more consistent message.
However, since a) the science of Covid is constantly evolving and b) the Covid response has become a political game, the CDC and scientists don't stand a chance.
There is also c) this virus isn't standing still, so guidance that made sense last month may not make sense now. Expect more changes as the months progress - they are inevitable.
It's called science. It's tentative, self-critical, subject to change, especially with something new and evolving like this. I'd rather hear their honest uncertainty than hear BS certainty.
bub said:
It's called science. It's tentative, self-critical, subject to change, especially with something new and evolving like this. I'd rather hear their honest uncertainty than hear BS certainty.
One thing the pandemic has shown is that many people wouldn't. A lot of people have been demonstrating a very low tolerance for uncertainty and rigid all-or-nothing thinking (eg fatality rates are less than initially feared, therefore it's not a threat at all, or the CDC made some mistakes, therefore it's completely untrustworthy and incompetent, etc). On the one hand, I suppose not so unexpected in the face of a highly stressful situation. OTOH, pretty disappointing how widespread the inability to step up and meet the challenge has been; doesn't bode well for how we'll handle the climate-induced catastrophes we can look forward to in the decades and centuries to come. Well, centuries is a long time -- maybe our descendants will learn and show greater maturity and resilience than we seem to be managing.
Just like Bojo's Christmas parties, it appears Hong Kong officials are leading the number of omicron-spreading gatherings for the New Year's unofficial party. Copying highlights from a friend's summary of this evening's press conference given by Chief Exec Carrie Lam:
- Incident involves "an individual" who invited people to a gathering on the 3rd of Jan
- Some of the guests were govt officials
- One of the guests was sent to Pennys Bay [quarantine village] (family member of a confirmed case) the following day
- This person has now been found to be preliminary positive and confirmed now by CHP (Centre for Health Protection). No case number has been assigned and specifics not available
- Casper Tsui (Sec Home) is very likely regarded as a close contact
- "Over 100" people involved
- CHP has informed them that the positive case attended from 9:30 onwards. Those who left before that time will not be considered close contacts
- 10 officials have attended - Sec Casper Tsui was there after 9:30 and is being sent to Pennys Bay
- 8 more officials are being contacted and have left before 9:30. Will be required to prove that they left the venue. Either by "use of leavehomesafe", "driver logs / witness proof", "might have used leavehomesafe at another premises", "octopus card information"
- 1 more govt official is being investigated
- Officials involved: Sec Casper Tsui. Pending - Director of Immigration
- Officials who left before 9:30 includes Police Chief and a few others
- Contacting other officials who were invited and might have not attendees
- Civil Servant Bureau are investigating if the person who was positive has been in contact with other civil servants
- CGO (Central Govt Offices) are being sterilised and disinfected (no jokes please!)
- Avoid gatherings and don't mess up the CHP's workload.
If only we had such fun stuff re ‘Scovid’ Morrison 
(instead of embarrassing diplomatic spats)
HatsOff said:
tjohn said:
In theory, I would agree that the CDC could issue a more consistent message.
However, since a) the science of Covid is constantly evolving and b) the Covid response has become a political game, the CDC and scientists don't stand a chance.
There is also c) this virus isn't standing still, so guidance that made sense last month may not make sense now. Expect more changes as the months progress - they are inevitable.
Yeah, sometimes the right wing response to changing situations sounds like my kids when they were 10 and yelling at me that they couldn't do the urgent task that I was asking them to do now, because they had suddenly gotten busy doing the chore that I had asked them to do yesterday.
Listen to what is being said now, because situations do change, and old guidance may no longer be right. Is that really so hard for adults to understand?
No surprise:
"Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel on Thursday said the efficacy of boosters against Covid-19 will likely decline over time, and people may need a fourth shot in the fall to increase their protection.
Bancel said people who received their boosters last fall will likely have enough protection to get them through the winter, when new infections surge as people gather indoors to escape the cold.
However, Bancel said the efficacy of boosters will probably decline over the course of several months, similar to what happened with the first two doses. The Moderna chief was interviewed by Goldman Sachs during the investment bank’s health-care CEO conference."
“We have been saying that we believe first this virus is not going away,” Bancel said. “We’re going to have to live with it.”
I’m a huge fan of CNBC but again like so many other articles on the Internet this article fails to differentiate between infection and severe disease and death. Yes the vaccines and boosters won’t keep us from getting infected for long but they will keep us from dying.
Read the link below.
Redfruit said:
I’m a huge fan of CNBC but again like so many other articles on the Internet this article fails to differentiate between infection and severe disease and death. Yes the vaccines and boosters won’t keep us from getting infected for long but they will keep us from dying.
Read the link below.
That's exactly what the Moderna CEO is saying. CNBC is quoting him. That's why he says we'll have to learn to live with it - getting a booster every year or so to cut down the severity of the virus and keep people out of the hospital. The overwhelming number of people in the hospital now are those who haven't been vaccinated.
btw - I saw that article when I was looking at the futures at https://www.cnbc.com/pre-markets/ And Karen Finerman is my favorite. If you want some smiles in the morning follow her on Twitter. She's very funny.
"Our $KFC / $BYND story reminds me of senior year high school 2nd semester. I ditched school with my friend and went to KFC for lunch. To my great surprise, we walked inside and ran into my mom waiting on line. Fill in the rest."
https://twitter.com/karenfinerman/status/1478499391602364416
WHO says omicron is NOT mild
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-01-07/who-says-delta-is-still-dominant-globally-and-omicron-isnt-mild/100743788
(you’ve probably heard this by now)
bub said:
It's called science. It's tentative, self-critical, subject to change, especially with something new and evolving like this. I'd rather hear their honest uncertainty than hear BS certainty.
How much is honest uncertainty? How much is bureaucratic bs, medical Mandarin aggrandizement, incompetence, political stupidity?
What is the excuse for a standard vaccination proof being a piece of paper an 8th grader can photoshop? I just received a booster and the pharmacists put a handwritten white blank stick on label on my vaccination card "proofing" it. A 4th grade can manage that.
Why is our reported COVID death rate about 410 per million vs about 90 per million in Israel?
Its very nice to say wear a mask but why do individuals have to figure out what masks are not counterfeit?
Why can citizens in other countries order rapid COVID tests and have several delivered within a day or two?
Funny that in many other countries there is a much lower level of "honest uncertainty."
We were the can-do country of the world. Now we're a laughing stock. Will we ever see real 21st century solutions like this:
When vaccination requirements were implemented, Israelis logging into their healthcare app received targeted alerts providing information based on their unique medical history, location, age, and more. They had appointments already scheduled. They had a choice about whether to get the vaccine, but they also had all the data they needed to make a decision, tailored to their specific circumstances right there on their smartphones.
The rot is deep. Its in our ridiculous healthcare industry with astronomical medical and hospital costs for the uninsured whereas if you're insured the cost drops by a facto of 10 or 20. Byzantine healthcare plans and weird denial of service rules. Political meddling in healthcare decisions. And so on.
When rot permeates society don't assume the issues are honest uncertainty.
You’re not a laughing stock - it’s tedious to keep hearing this. You’re not, because few people elsewhere have time or energy to spare for laughing.
You may now be regarded as less important to consult, as lower on the totem pole of Great Power (I don’t really know these things), but believe me: you’re no more a laughing stock than our or the UK’s PMs have rendered their nations.
We two nations (UK & Aus) serve as lessons on how to bungle a good thing.
The answer to your other question is: the longer you believe in ‘small government’ and ‘minimal red tape/minimal oversight’, the longer you’ll see the gaps between you and Israel etc.
Politics & economics should be in the sub forum, sorry.
It isn't unexpected with a virus that is such a moving target. Natural immunity might be something of value against a DNA virus or one that doesn't mutate so extensively and frequently.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/omicron-natural-immunity-doctor-161847721.html?.tsrc=fin-srch
We're still able to do this level of contact tracing in Hong Kong. How long it can be maintained is anyone's guess.
this is a bit off-topic, but here's an interesting article on someone's experience traveling to HK.
They run a very tight ship.
My friend just went to Taiwan to see family. She had negative tests both in the IS and Taiwan and now has to quarantine in a hotel for 10 days, and then isolate another 5 at her destination. Basically had to take a month off to see her family for a week. Crazy but effective.
Why aren't we seeing a lesser impact?
Early Data Hints at Omicron’s Potential Toll Across America https://nyti.ms/3Gcf4U2
Given the seeming shortness of symptomatic illness with Omicron compared to others, it would be nice to start hearing stories about large numbers of people recovered or recovering from it.
There are aspects of this that may always remain a mystery. Why, for example, is the U.K. seemingly already at or past peak, matching the South Africa experience, but Israel, at the vanguard of vaccinations, seems to be out of control and resigned to Omicorn basically blowing through the whole population. I don't get it.
ml1 said:
PeterWick said:
Yes, please don't confuse that with such a nickname à la Bennifer. There have been a few cases of getting delta and omicron at the same time and that is confusing and alarming enough. That's relatively rare so that's good. At least that hasn't gotten a snarky nickname.
deltacron?
omelta?
Re Deltacron - https://www.chiangraitimes.com/covid-19/does-the-new-deltacron-covid-variant-exist-scientists-explain-read-here/
Some background info.....
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/variants/variant-classifications.html
SARS-CoV-2 Variant Classifications and Definitions
My brother has a friend who runs a funeral home in Nazareth, PA. That funeral home this last week buried seven covid-death persons all of whom had not been vaccinated. So business is booming there. Nazareth is a small town of not quite 6,000 residents. Considering the biblical name perhaps they might consider renaming it "Golgotha".
Of course this situation is not unique to Nazareth.
Here's some encouraging news from one of the indicators I posted earlier. This is from Boston's waste water assay program used to monitor COVID particles from the population's uhh, by products. It looks like omicron in the samples has begun to measurably decline.
PeterWick said:
Here's some encouraging news from one of the indicators I posted earlier. This is from Boston's waste water assay program used to monitor COVID particles from the population's uhh, by products. It looks like omicron in the samples has begun to measurably decline.
should we start to feel some optimism? Fingers crossed, but the NYT today showed this graphic today, in which infections seem to have peaked, even at a time when we are doing more tests than ever.
although still above the magic "1", the NJ transmission rate has definitely been coming down too.
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In theory, I would agree that the CDC could issue a more consistent message.
However, since a) the science of Covid is constantly evolving and b) the Covid response has become a political game, the CDC and scientists don't stand a chance.