Someone who flew in from SA before the travel ban? I think it's adorable how we're pulling the same shit we did with Delta, not wanting to ID the country of origin. The narrative being that SA was only the first country to identify the variant, a la Spain in 1918. But isn't it true that every case so far is from people who flew out of SA and brought it with them?
It makes sense that a variant emerging from a country with a large amount of AIDS would have a higher mutation count. If the body mounts an ineffectual immune response, it gives the virus more time to evolve and evade inside a single patient. The more this is happening, the higher the likelihood that it stumbles upon something useful. If I recall correctly, there was a case like this that was directly observed in Russia maybe, can’t recall the country. That being said, mutations often carry a cost with them, in terms of evolutionary fitness. That’s why some of the variants that were able to dodge immunity more effectively did not outcompete delta, which evolved to be a beast at being contagious. I did a year of drug development for some covid treatments a bit earlier in the pandemic so was able to see a lot of the interesting stuff with a bit more detail, but have been less in the loop since leaving that lab/startup this summer.
SA having the region's best public health infrastructure and SA having the most intercontinental travel aren't uncorrelated. They're both related to SA's relative wealth and business relationships compared to its neighbors.
I'm going to give a hot take, but SA is a complete shit hole of a country. It's like the Dubai of Africa. The absolute main cities in the absolute richest parts are stunning and impressive and everything outside of a mile radius of that is a complete disaster. I don't know if it's just a gateway to the rest of Africa which causes it to be held in such esteem, but in my opinion, it's just a terrible place. Looks like another case of Omicron in the US after a guy came back from an AnimeCon at the Javits in NYC. Basically, the entire country is going to blow up in cases in the next couple of weeks. I'm hoping what people have been saying about the variant being very mild continues to hold true, but who knows. I also hope Biden sticks to his word and doesn't issue any more federal based lockdowns or shutdowns. It seems as if the current administration has figured out we are just about maxed out for people getting the vaccine and COVID isn't going away any time soon. I'm hoping if this newest variant is more contagious, but very mild, it will become endemic and turn into nothing worse then the common flu, but who knows.
Everything I'm seeing so far (like the doctors in Israel) says that the vaccines are quite effective against it, but if you're not vaccinated it's twice as bad as Delta when it comes to transmission and impact. The info isn't ready for scientific publishing yet, but that seems to be the initial general consensus of some experts dealing with it. Here's hoping that's the case.
There's clear trend lines, and then there's this: https://www.npr.org/sections/health...isinformation-trump-counties-covid-death-rate
Has anybody mixed and matched for the booster shot? Like, if you originally got Moderna, getting Pfizer on the booster, or vice versa? I've seen a couple more reports about that creating a more robust immune response. I need to schedule my booster, originally got Pfizer, and had planned on sticking with that. But, I know CDC says you can mix and match, but I don't think they've actually recommended that you do.
My sister in Louisiana did. She got Moderna for the first two shots and a full dose of Pfizer for the booster. She says she's feeling a little achey today.
Canada has been mixing and matching since early on with no reports of any issues. I recieved Pfizer 1st round and Moderna 2nd round. The article below cites positive results from a UK study on mixing vaccines as well https://www.reuters.com/business/he...na-gives-better-immune-response-uk-2021-12-06
Ive thought about this because the moderna is stronger but my work doesn’t give extra sick days for the shots.
The Pfizer booster is a little more potent then the Moderna booster, but the regular shot is the opposite. You can mix and match, but realistically it doesn't matter. Same technology used between the two, the only difference being the other things they add into the shots to make their formula. For me, the first shot was mild, second shot I had fever and aches for a day, booster my lymphnodes swelled under my arm, my neck and shoulders were super inflamed, and all of my joints felt like I ran two marathons the day before.
Canada allowed mix and matching, but then when it came to international travel it turned into a problem. Not sure if it’s still the case, but if you have any plans to travel someplace make sure they allow it.
Just got my booster today; all 3 Pfizer so far. Had them throw in a flu shot since I was there. Really gonna perf test the ol' immune system.
Wife got her flu shot the same day we got our boosters. I decided to hold off on the flu shot in case the combo really fucked us up. Our kid doesn't give a shit if you feel like hell, and at least one of us needed to be semi-ok. I'm going for flu shot soon. Wife did feel shittier than normal that day.