New heavily mutated variant B.1.1.529 in South Africa raises concern

[Gumby]

Good news from Pfizer

https://www.yahoo.com/news/pfizer-says-booster-dose-vaccine-115215188.html

A booster dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine appears to provide strong protection against the omicron variant, the companies announced Wednesday.

They said a third dose of their vaccine provides a similar level of neutralizing antibodies to omicron, comparable to two doses against the original coronavirus and other variants that have emerged.

More detailed article in NYT (but could be paywalled)

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/12/08/world/omicron-variant-covid

 

[Alan]

https://www.yahoo.com/news/pfizer-says-booster-dose-vaccine-115215188.html


More detailed article in NYT (but could be paywalled)

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/12/08/world/omicron-variant-covid

Excellent news indeed.

 

[disneysteve]

In our hospital system, there were 52 patients hospitalized with COVID on 11/9. By 12/3, that number was up to 105, so it doubled in under a month.

As for testing, I saw 24 patients today. 17 of them were for COVID testing. Not all get rapid tests but of the ones who did, 2 were positive. Most likely a couple others will also turn up positive when their PCRs come back in a couple of days.

Just 4 days later, the hospital case count is up to 139 so it's shooting up fast.On Monday, I saw at least 6 new cases, with more to follow when PCRs come back most likely.


Transmission rate in NJ is up to 1.31 and rising, the highest it's been in quite a while, so the virus is spreading very rapidly.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

Just 4 days later, the hospital case count is up to 139 so it's shooting up fast.On Monday, I saw at least 6 new cases, with more to follow when PCRs come back most likely.


Transmission rate in NJ is up to 1.31 and rising, the highest it's been in quite a while, so the virus is spreading very rapidly.

Definite increase in 7 day average. Interesting to see that the "new cases" is down, though. I assume it's from how/when different states report the numbers or data lag.

In the US new cases // 7 days averages:

11/08 126,461 // 73,875
12/07 113,992 // 119,354

 

[anethum]

Definite increase in 7 day average. Interesting to see that the "new cases" is down, though. I assume it's from how/when different states report the numbers or data lag.

In the US new cases // 7 days averages:

11/08 126,461 // 73,875
12/07 113,992 // 119,354

You need to look at the 7 day average, not any single day. In fact, that's why the 7 day average is calculated. Weekends, holidays, weather, and other factors, can all affect testing numbers for a single day. But a 7 day average gives a much clearer view of actual trends. The 7 day average of new cases on Dec 7 was 119,354. The 7 day average a month earlier on Nov 8 was far lower, 73,875. That's an increase of almost 62% in new cases.

 

[Sojourner]

https://www.yahoo.com/news/pfizer-says-booster-dose-vaccine-115215188.html

More detailed article in NYT (but could be paywalled)

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/12/08/world/omicron-variant-covid

Good news, indeed. I reached my limit of free NY Times articles, so I found this similar piece on the AP website that isn't restricted or paywalled.
https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-science-business-health-coronavirus-vaccine-46a0cedcefcc938ba84ea2868bf69db1

 

[Telly]

Great! Thanks Gumby and Sojourner

 

[EastWest Gal]

I find using my state’s Covid app quite useful. It includes a county by county breakdown. I figure day to day fluctuations are not just related to the number of tests but also the speed of reporting. Sunday-Tuesday numbers are always lower.

What will be accurate is the number of cases hospitalized, as hospitals do census reporting every day to the health department. The number of people hospitalized with Covid has increased by 60% in about three weeks.

I’ve been doing the same music activities since July. There were no Covid outbreaks at all. Last week 3 people stayed home due to Covid or Covid exposure. We were scrambling for substitute musicians for concerts. That got shut down because one person came to rehearsals with “a cold”. Nope-Covid. 3 paid concerts cancelled. I stayed home from one rehearsal. But I tested negative. Pretty much all the exposures can be traced to Thanksgiving gatherings.

 

[Mark1]

DW and I are in are early to mid-60s and have had two doses of Pfizer last spring and believe we had Delta breakthrough cases a few months ago. Since we are both healthy, exercise daily and have no comorbidity issues, we are waiting a little longer for boosters and taking our chances with Omicron, at least for now. I don't like to wait, but I'm a little more concerned with original antigenic sin (OAS) then hospitalization, at this point. Might change my mind as more data becomes available in the next few weeks.

Below are a couple articles on OAS if interested.

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/heal...ategy-omicron-boost-original-vaccine-rcna7451

https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/mSphere.00056-21

 

[Jerry1]

https://www.yahoo.com/news/pfizer-says-booster-dose-vaccine-115215188.html

A booster dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine appears to provide strong protection against the omicron variant, the companies announced Wednesday.

They said a third dose of their vaccine provides a similar level of neutralizing antibodies to omicron, comparable to two doses against the original coronavirus and other variants that have emerged.

More detailed article in NYT (but could be paywalled)

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/12/08/world/omicron-variant-covid

And then, unfortunately, there’s this:

Studies suggest sharp drop in vaccine protection vs. omicron — yet cause for optimism

https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsa...ne-protection-v-omicron-yet-cause-for-optimis


The optimism is that there still seems to be protection against severe illness. Of course this is all preliminary information. Very fluid situation.

 

[Sunset]

DW and I are in are early to mid-60s and have had two doses of Pfizer last spring and believe we had Delta breakthrough cases a few months ago. Since we are both healthy, exercise daily and have no comorbidity issues, we are waiting a little longer for boosters and taking our chances with Omicron, at least for now. I don't like to wait, but I'm a little more concerned with original antigenic sin (OAS) then hospitalization, at this point. Might change my mind as more data becomes available in the next few weeks.

....https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/mSphere.00056-21

To bad you didn't get tested at that time, so you would know , as beliefs can be wrong, and that would mean your protection from the original 2 doses is wearing thin now.

 

[Mark1]

To bad you didn't get tested at that time, so you would know , as beliefs can be wrong, and that would mean your protection from the original 2 doses is wearing thin now.

Yes it's unfortunate, but it is too late now. This might be why we will ultimately get the original booster instead of waiting until March+ for an updated vaccine for Omicron, which is likely in the works.

 

[Chuckanut]

Most mulitiple shot vaccines space the shots a few months apart. IIRC, for example, the latest shingles vaccine is 2-6 months between the two shots.

Since I was vaccinated for Covid about 8 months earlier, it seemed a good time to energize the immune system to maximum effect. There is some evidence of this from UK studies, where they waited 12 weeks between shots. I hope 8 months was not too long.