I suspect most of the world will be back in lockdown/restriction mode by Christmas.

That escalated quickly. Also a legal requirement for citizens to get vaccinated. Has this been done anywhere else?

Austria to go into full lockdown as Covid surges

Nah. I don't see any place of significance doing a full lockdown (including vaccinated people) again. Unvaccinated? Maybe, but whatever on that. Will give them time to admire and ponder their robust immune systems and do more research.

Sweden's vaccination rate according to Reuters is 74%

https://graphics.reuters.com/world-c...tories/sweden/

Seems like for 1st world countries this rate is around 70% , more than half of Russia is not vaccinated (Russia is a huge country with many corners not living in 1a infrastructures)

https://www.statista.com/statistics/...pe-by-country/

They are talking about it now here. I wouldn't bet against a mandate. The libs are definitely losing grounds here by the minute, with rates soaring as predicted.

Our company here in the SW USA was talking mandatory vaccines for all employees and contractors. The push back was so strong the CEO starting back tracking yesterday.

What will happen when the power goes off due to under staffing?

In honor of the long since banned OP - they simply need to staff up!

New Coronavirus Variant a ‘Serious Concern’ in South Africa

November 25, 2021,

- Scientists say mutations clearly differ from earlier versions
- WHO officials meeting to discuss development as cases rise

Scientists in South Africa are studying a recently identified new coronavirus variant of concern, stoking fears the country may face a potentially severe fourth wave that could spread internationally.

The new discovery, ...carries an unusually large number of mutations and is “clearly very different” from previous incarnations, ...

...Virologists have detected almost 100 cases linked to the variant in the country to date, ...

In Botswana -- a neighbor of South Africa -- the new variant has been detected in vaccinated people, ...

...likely to have evolved during a chronic infection of an immuno-compromised person, possibly in an untreated HIV/AIDS patient, ... With 8.2 million people infected with HIV, the most in the world, South Africa’s efforts to fight the coronavirus pandemic has been complicated, as immuno-compromised people can harbor the virus for longer,...

U.S. Announces Travel Restrictions:

https://www.cnn.com/world/live-news/...-21/index.html

A case of Omicron has been found in Belgium. The individual carrying the virus has not been to SA or knows anyone who has.

It's obviously way too late to stop it spreading everywhere if it's suitably infectious. Can still slow it down a bit which may help further down the line with tweaked vaccines if required.

were pretty much down to hoping it's handled by current vaccines fairly well or that it turns out to not be very dangerous.

As vaccines expire and are being thrown away the reality is that Africa will remain a hotbed for new variants.

Interesting how that works. Vaccines thrown away and not used equal extra profits for big pharma immediately.

Not preventing variants equals predictable long term soaring profits.

On this one I actually blame Biden and the UN. They should be demanding that Big Pharma allow generics to produce and distribute to these 3rd world countries if they are saying it is not enough profit for them to do so. Biden (the US gov't) has all the moral high ground to demand it and if not, defy Big Pharma because of what they did with Project Warp Speed and prior govt investments in these vaccines.

Shameful.

But good for Big Pharma business so there is that.


Classification of Omicron (B.1.1.529): SARS-CoV-2 Variant of Concern

The Technical Advisory Group on SARS-CoV-2 Virus Evolution (TAG-VE) is an independent group of experts that periodically monitors and evaluates the evolution of SARS-CoV-2 and assesses if specific mutations and combinations of mutations alter the behaviour of the virus. The TAG-VE was convened on 26 November 2021 to assess the SARS-CoV-2 variant: B.1.1.529.

The B.1.1.529 variant was first reported to WHO from South Africa on 24 November 2021. The epidemiological situation in South Africa has been characterized by three distinct peaks in reported cases, the latest of which was predominantly the Delta variant. In recent weeks, infections have increased steeply, coinciding with the detection of B.1.1.529 variant. The first known confirmed B.1.1.529 infection was from a specimen collected on 9 November 2021.

This variant has a large number of mutations, some of which are concerning. Preliminary evidence suggests an increased risk of reinfection with this variant, as compared to other VOCs. The number of cases of this variant appears to be increasing in almost all provinces in South Africa. Current SARS-CoV-2 PCR diagnostics continue to detect this variant. Several labs have indicated that for one widely used PCR test, one of the three target genes is not detected (called S gene dropout or S gene target failure) and this test can therefore be used as marker for this variant, pending sequencing confirmation. Using this approach, this variant has been detected at faster rates than previous surges in infection, suggesting that this variant may have a growth advantage....

As such, countries are asked to do the following:

- enhance surveillance and sequencing efforts to better understand circulating SARS-CoV-2 variants.
- submit complete genome sequences and associated metadata to a publicly available database, such as GISAID.
- report initial cases/clusters associated with VOC infection to WHO through the IHR mechanism.
- where capacity exists and in coordination with the international community, perform field investigations and laboratory assessments to improve understanding of the potential impacts of the VOC on COVID-19 epidemiology, severity, effectiveness of public health and social measures, diagnostic methods, immune responses, antibody neutralization, or other relevant characteristics....

Well said.

time to buy amazon stock again

Of course! Amazon created the new variant for $$$.

Cite or ban.

(Uncle Jeff, don't forget me at XMas again!)

/I'll take Joking-4-Dollars for $400

Bezos the Bozo.

/mocking billionaires

Will the reality be that at some point everyone will need to or will get Covid

I've always said that was the reality lozen.

Well at least for the last 12 mths I have thought that was pretty clear.

Vaccinated or not, we will all get it some day soon enough but every few months we get better at treating it with new and improved therapeutics and with the development of the game changing Pfizer pill the hope is we won't care as it will be little more than a mild flu season.

If your neighbourhood pharmacy has that Pfizer pill in stock and rapid covid tests available, then within a day of feeling any symptoms you pop in, take a rapid test, and if you have covid, get the pill if you so choose.

Guess Biden is now lumped into the xenophobic category for Presidents. Such a shame they keep repeating themselves.

I doubt it.

Because getting Covid is not much different than being vaccinated in terms of protecting people from getting Covid again, there is no point in deliberately having the entire population get Covid.

But if what you are asking is, will Covid end up like the Flu, only deadlier, then maybe. But I would guess that vaccines will evolve if Covid mutates enough that the current vaccines stop protecting from death for most. And the "everyone" in your question will just be people who are unvaccinated not really everybody.

Also, there is apparently a pill now that will prevent serious outcomes in about 90% of Covid cases. It hasn't been approved yet (studies are not completed I guess). Assuming it does get approved then widespread Covid would likely stop being a hospital overrun threat (at least in countries like the US) so maybe at that point vaccine mandates and masking will go away and we will be left with something like the Flu for those who refuse to get vaccinated.

No matter what though, I doubt most people over 65 will ever acquiesce to getting Covid because of the likelihood of being in the death vulnerable 10%.

I understand skipping Nu because they sounds like New but I am having a tough time figuring out why we skipped Xi to Omicron.

I wonder how the horse paste favored by many fared in equivalent trials to the ones you got excited about...

Kudos to Twitter for all they made being the platform that derps use to passively consume the messaging they want to hear and spread. Excellent industry in that regard.

All the best.

Given where COVID originated using Xi seems appropriate.