COVID Variant - Omicron B.1.1.529

it is still too early to know whether the new variant, dubbed omicron, is more transmissible than the delta variant. There remains little understanding about the severity of illness caused by the variant and the rate of hospitalization. Scientists in South Africa, where the variant was first identified, said they expect more breakthrough cases in people vaccinated against the coronavirus.

Archive Related Items

The Dangerous Push to Give Boosters to Teens

12/23/21

from The Wall Street Journal,

12/21/21:

The emergence of the Omicron variant has fed the push for boosters. But a University of Hong Kong study found that Omicron is less than one-tenth as infective in lung cells compared with the Delta variant. That explains why Omicron patients report far fewer cough and fever symptoms. Instead they report common cold-symptoms, similar to the four known seasonal coronaviruses that have circulated for decades, causing many colds. Angelique Coetzee of the South African Medical Association described her bedside Omicron observations: “There is no reason for panicking.” Yet much of the northern U.S. is now in full panic mode.

More From The Wall Street Journal (subscription required):

The Dangerous Push to Give Boosters to Teens