Omicron: Good news, bad news and what it all means

[marmar]

(BBC News) Restrictions are tightening in parts of the UK and other European countries in order to tackle the new variant.

There's a constant stream of new information - some worrying, some positive. So where do we stand?

This is not last winter

It is easy to forget, but we are in a much brighter place than this time last year when many of us could not meet family on Christmas Day.

The "Christmas bubble" rules meant in parts of the country you could spend the day only with those you lived with. But there were limits on the size of gatherings across the UK.

The rise of the Alpha variant in late 2020 led to lockdowns in November and a long one in the New Year as the vaccination programme was only just getting going. .......(more)

https://www.bbc.com/news/health-59769967

[LisaL]

1. How is it better than last winter?

Right now, it's spreading everywhere. Rapid tests are hard to find. Medications are not available yet and Regeneron antibodies no longer work. We stopped mask mandates and other mitigation measures.

[unc70]

2. Vaccines work really, really well

If you have a booster, extremely unlikely that you get sick enough to die.

[LisaL]

6. You do realize that vaccines don't work well for immunocompromised individuals, or don't you?

Seems we put all our eggs into a vaccine basket.

[uponit7771]

11. There's no data suggesting the vaxs don't work for ***MOST*** immunocompromised

[LisaL]

14. Vaccines don't work well against Omicron even in healthy individuals.

Two doses produce much lower efficacy against Omicron compared to Delta.
Let alone immunocompromised.

[uponit7771]

16. There's data showing they're effective at keeping people from critical and lethal outcomes

[JohnnyRingo]

7. Times are pretty tough when to good news is...

It's "unlikely you'll get sick enough to die", but here we are.

[PTWB]

3. Vaccines and boosters are available for all who want them.

The CDC statistics indicate that anti-vax folks are dying at a rate of 10 to 1 compared to those of us who are vaccinated. Omicron appears to be more contagious but less severe.

Get your vaccine, get your booster, wear your mask, limit your exposure to the general public when practical, and get on with your life. Unless you're an anti-vaxxer, your risk of death or serious illness is very, very low.

[Tomconroy]

4. 'We are not in March 2020'.

Link to tweet

?s=20

Who you listen to is your choice.

[LisaL]

8. Not everyone is able to stand in line for hours to get tested.

All of this appears to be well and good for able bodied healthy people. Where are the tests one can do at home?

[Lovie777]

5. So far it seems that the vaccinations/boosters are holding up . . . ..

against Omicorn and Delta. Masks help also. My understanding is the up tick in hospitalization is due to the un-vaxxed as well as the deaths.

Fingers crossed that although Omicorn is extremely infectious, the symptoms "most" are medium to mild.

[leftstreet]

9. LOL Shortage of tests, no mask mandates, no treatments

yeah, it's all so much better

Two years later and there are no therapeutic treatments

[LisaL]

10. At the moment it doesn't feel better at all.

Pills have been approved but not available yet. Tests are nowhere to be found.
Most antibodies don't work. And infections are skyrocketing. And considering a lot of people aren't testing, actual infections are a lot higher than official case numbers. But yet we have no mask mandates, no other mitigation measures in place.

[Klaralven]

12. A lot of the social butterflies have already had Covid

Not everyone who has Covid passes it on to more than one person. Much of its propagation is due to a small minority of individuals who have frequent, close contact with lots of other people and pass their Covid on to several victims, e.g. bartenders and clergy.

By now many of those people will already have contracted Covid and either recovered or not.

[LisaL]

13. Those who already had covid can be reinfected with Omicron.

It is also false that only social butterflies pass it on. Cases are skyrocketing right now. Omicron is super infectious.
And yet we are not ready for it.
Tests are sold out everywhere, most antibody treatments don't work against Omicron, and those that work are in short supply.

[Maru Kitteh]

15. Are you under the time-worn, Facebook-driven, long disproved illusion

That once a person has had covid they won’t get it again? I personally know 2 idiots who have had COVID 3 times. Verified by PCR testing.

3 times. One of them almost died the third time and his stupid anti-vaxx ass is disabled now.