It appears the source is https://twitter.com/jburnmurdoch
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Omicron - COVID-19 Variant (B.1.1529) a "Variant of Concern" & BA.2 sub-variant, XE
- Thread starter kiwibird
- Start date
Emily
Editor, Senior Moderator
Can't find backgrounds on the 2 sources. Other tweets give insight, though. People that scoff at the deaths or the burden that the pandemic is putting on common people might have an agenda to fearmonger.
Benjamin K Wellander
@Benjaministern”Med covid” är väl lika ute som att skriva ”mansperson” i stället för man? Kom igen svenska journalister, det är dags att uppdatera era falska sociala markörer för upplysning. Om världspressen skriver att någon dött av covid så får ni skriva det - jag lovar ingen kommer slå er
jorgenponder — om coronavirusepidemin
@jorgenponder
· 11h
Om de hade tagit vaccin, så kunde de dött utan Covid.
7:41 PM · Dec 6, 2021·Twitter for iPhone
https://twitter.com/SteveMillerOC/status/1467954514640527361
Steve Miller
@SteveMillerOC
BREAKING: Socialist is upset when people profit from developing solutions that will solve problems and save lives. In other news, dog bites man.
Quote Tweet
Bernie Sanders
@SenSanders
· Dec 5
This is obscene. Last week, 8 investors in Pfizer and Moderna became $10 billion richer as news about the Omicron variant spread. It's time for these pharmaceutical companies to share their vaccines with the world and start controlling their greed. Enough is enough!
8:30 PM · Dec 6, 2021·Twitter for iPhone
sharon sanders
Editor-in-Chief & President
This is what I can find on the government hospital surveillance site:
https://www.nicd.ac.za/diseases-a-z-...datcov-report/
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
I believe oxygenated means a person has an oxygenation tube under their nose. This, alone, does not alarm me. I have had this tube placed after a surgery as an assist to my general treatment.
I believe ventilation is a real problem. This procedure is only done if a person can not adequately breathe.
There are 41 people who are currently ventilated in Gauteng province out of 1,670 people hospitalized which is 2.4% of hospitalized patients.
sharon sanders
Editor-in-Chief & President
I have seen that some social media and main stream media have mocked well known people who were "vaccine deniers" if they died of COVID-19. This is a travesty. Stop it.
sharon sanders
Editor-in-Chief & President
Also, please do not post anything without a direct link to the underlying data. We generally do not bring anything from twitter unless we can evaluate the source (i.e. expert, government data, etc.).
My general "take" on Omicron is that I have no clue about anything on this variant. I am cautiously optimistic about the severity. The potential for higher transmissibility and lack of antibody protection from previous exposures/vaccine is not great news.
We do not track the "common cold" here. It would be like trying to count the grains of sand on a beach.
I am waiting to see on Omicron, meanwhile, Delta is a threat that demands respect. I am living a COVID-19 lifestyle which should help protect me if Omicron turns out to be as deadly.
My general "take" on Omicron is that I have no clue about anything on this variant. I am cautiously optimistic about the severity. The potential for higher transmissibility and lack of antibody protection from previous exposures/vaccine is not great news.
We do not track the "common cold" here. It would be like trying to count the grains of sand on a beach.
I am waiting to see on Omicron, meanwhile, Delta is a threat that demands respect. I am living a COVID-19 lifestyle which should help protect me if Omicron turns out to be as deadly.
sharon sanders
Editor-in-Chief & President
bump this
Shiloh
Editor, Senior Moderator
Source: https://deadline.com/2021/12/stealth-omicron-offshoot-ba2-1234886790/
So-Called “Stealth” Omicron Offshoot Identified By Scientists In Three Countries
By Tom Tapp
Scientists have identified a new Covid-19 lineage responsible for a number of recent Covid cases in South Africa, Australia and Canada that displays “many of the defining mutations of B.1.1.529 (Omicron) [but does] not have the full set. These cases also have “a number of their own unique mutations,” according to analysis posted on information sharing platform GitHub. The platform is widely used by top researchers to share data and information related to Covid-19.
As a result of those similarities and differences with the original Omicron, which was first identified about two weeks ago, the new sequence is being called BA.2, while the original variant has been dubbed BA.1...
...Why does that matter? It makes tracking the spread of Omicron more difficult at a time when surveillance of the new variant is critical to understanding it. Only seven cases of BA.2 have been identified thus far, reported the Guardian, the picture is still far from complete...
So-Called “Stealth” Omicron Offshoot Identified By Scientists In Three Countries
By Tom Tapp
Scientists have identified a new Covid-19 lineage responsible for a number of recent Covid cases in South Africa, Australia and Canada that displays “many of the defining mutations of B.1.1.529 (Omicron) [but does] not have the full set. These cases also have “a number of their own unique mutations,” according to analysis posted on information sharing platform GitHub. The platform is widely used by top researchers to share data and information related to Covid-19.
As a result of those similarities and differences with the original Omicron, which was first identified about two weeks ago, the new sequence is being called BA.2, while the original variant has been dubbed BA.1...
...Why does that matter? It makes tracking the spread of Omicron more difficult at a time when surveillance of the new variant is critical to understanding it. Only seven cases of BA.2 have been identified thus far, reported the Guardian, the picture is still far from complete...
Emily
Editor, Senior Moderator
From Shiloh's link:
This blogger with a Navy and science background, has a theory about all this. Basically I think he thinks that omicron is from a lineage of the parent virus of the Wuhan strain. He thinks it escaped from a lab in China much earlier - 2018. Omicron circulated for some time before turning virulent enough to be noticed when a variant became the Wuhan strain. China's CCP had hoped that wouldn't happen. This is his theory:
https://theethicalskeptic.com/2021/...-presence-in-china-as-far-back-as-march-2018/
This blogger with a Navy and science background, has a theory about all this. Basically I think he thinks that omicron is from a lineage of the parent virus of the Wuhan strain. He thinks it escaped from a lab in China much earlier - 2018. Omicron circulated for some time before turning virulent enough to be noticed when a variant became the Wuhan strain. China's CCP had hoped that wouldn't happen. This is his theory:
https://theethicalskeptic.com/2021/...-presence-in-china-as-far-back-as-march-2018/
sharon sanders
Editor-in-Chief & President
Alex Sigal
@sigallab
We have completed our first experiments on neutralization of Omicron by Pfizer BNT162b2 vaccination elicited immunity Manuscript available at https://sigallab.net and should be available on medRxiv in the coming days
4:02 PM · Dec 7, 2021·Twitter Web App
2,551
Retweets
486
Quote Tweets
7,346
Likes
Tweet your reply
Reply
Alex Sigal
@sigallab
·
13h
Replying to
@sigallab
There are a few results: 1. Omicron still uses ACE2 2. There is a very large drop in neutralization of Omicron by BNT162b2 immunity relative to ancestral virus 3. Omicron escape from BNT162b2 neutralization is incomplete. Previous infection + vaccination still neutralizes
91
1.1K
2.7K
Alex Sigal
@sigallab
·
13h
This is our first set of data and is not corrected for values going below the lowest dilution used - we present the raw fold change, which is likely to be adjusted as we do more experiments.
13
107
869
Alex Sigal
@sigallab
·
13h
Thank you
@Sandile_Cele22
for leading,
@KhadijaKhan24
,
@farinakarim
,
@Dr_L_Jackson
for making it possible, and our terrific collaborators
@PennyMo70026063
,
@Tuliodna
,
@rjlessells
,
@houzhou
. There are many more key people to thank, but I need to get some sleep first
39
73
831
Alex Sigal
@sigallab
·
12h
Just be be clear on something as I'm still awake, this was better than I expected of Omicron. The fact that it still needs the ACE2 receptor and that escape is incomplete means its a tractable problem with the tools we got
78
@sigallab
We have completed our first experiments on neutralization of Omicron by Pfizer BNT162b2 vaccination elicited immunity Manuscript available at https://sigallab.net and should be available on medRxiv in the coming days
4:02 PM · Dec 7, 2021·Twitter Web App
2,551
Retweets
486
Quote Tweets
7,346
Likes
Tweet your reply
Reply
Alex Sigal
@sigallab
·
13h
Replying to
@sigallab
There are a few results: 1. Omicron still uses ACE2 2. There is a very large drop in neutralization of Omicron by BNT162b2 immunity relative to ancestral virus 3. Omicron escape from BNT162b2 neutralization is incomplete. Previous infection + vaccination still neutralizes
91
1.1K
2.7K
Alex Sigal
@sigallab
·
13h
This is our first set of data and is not corrected for values going below the lowest dilution used - we present the raw fold change, which is likely to be adjusted as we do more experiments.
13
107
869
Alex Sigal
@sigallab
·
13h
Thank you
@Sandile_Cele22
for leading,
@KhadijaKhan24
,
@farinakarim
,
@Dr_L_Jackson
for making it possible, and our terrific collaborators
@PennyMo70026063
,
@Tuliodna
,
@rjlessells
,
@houzhou
. There are many more key people to thank, but I need to get some sleep first
39
73
831
Alex Sigal
@sigallab
·
12h
Just be be clear on something as I'm still awake, this was better than I expected of Omicron. The fact that it still needs the ACE2 receptor and that escape is incomplete means its a tractable problem with the tools we got
78
sharon sanders
Editor-in-Chief & President
sharon sanders
Editor-in-Chief & President
A Marm Kilpatrick
@DiseaseEcology
·
9h
We found that measurements are moderately consistent in terms of relative differences w/in a study (lines in fig are parallel), but there are huge diffs b/w studies (methods, samples, etc.), so need to have all the variants you want to compare in 1 study.
1
12
67
A Marm Kilpatrick
@DiseaseEcology
·
9h
Studies above suggest a 7 - 41 fold difference, with weight leaning towards the upper end (20-40-fold reduction). What does this mean in terms of vaccine effectiveness? It does NOT mean a 20-40-fold reduction in VE. But...
1
12
84
A Marm Kilpatrick
@DiseaseEcology
·
9h
We can estimate the reduction using data on VE for a vaccine & neutralizing antibody titers. Two papers that did this are: https://medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.10.25.21265500v3… https://nature.com/articles/s41591-021-01377-8… However - these studies compared VE across vaccines, NOT across virus variants. Can we do that directly?
1
15
83
A Marm Kilpatrick
@DiseaseEcology
·
9h
We used VE data from
@alison_l_hill
https://medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.09.17.21263549v1… for specific vaccines & variants & paired them w/ neutralizing antibody titers for vaccines & variants to estimate VEs for symptomatic disease, doc infection & hospitalization.
medrxiv.org
A systematic review of COVID-19 vaccine efficacy and effectiveness against SARS-CoV-2 infection and...
Billions of doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered around the world, dramatically reducing SARS-CoV-2 incidence in some settings. Many studies suggest vaccines provide a high degree of...
2
11
66
A Marm Kilpatrick
@DiseaseEcology
·
9h
Here are VE for SYMPTOMATIC DISEASE & antibody neutralization fold-reductions for 4 vaccines & 4 variants. We could fit models to these data but notice empty space on graphs for >7-fold reductions - there are NO DATA. Thus we can't reliably estimate Omicron VE from these data.
@DiseaseEcology
·
9h
We found that measurements are moderately consistent in terms of relative differences w/in a study (lines in fig are parallel), but there are huge diffs b/w studies (methods, samples, etc.), so need to have all the variants you want to compare in 1 study.
1
12
67
A Marm Kilpatrick
@DiseaseEcology
·
9h
Studies above suggest a 7 - 41 fold difference, with weight leaning towards the upper end (20-40-fold reduction). What does this mean in terms of vaccine effectiveness? It does NOT mean a 20-40-fold reduction in VE. But...
1
12
84
A Marm Kilpatrick
@DiseaseEcology
·
9h
We can estimate the reduction using data on VE for a vaccine & neutralizing antibody titers. Two papers that did this are: https://medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.10.25.21265500v3… https://nature.com/articles/s41591-021-01377-8… However - these studies compared VE across vaccines, NOT across virus variants. Can we do that directly?
1
15
83
A Marm Kilpatrick
@DiseaseEcology
·
9h
We used VE data from
@alison_l_hill
https://medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.09.17.21263549v1… for specific vaccines & variants & paired them w/ neutralizing antibody titers for vaccines & variants to estimate VEs for symptomatic disease, doc infection & hospitalization.
medrxiv.org
A systematic review of COVID-19 vaccine efficacy and effectiveness against SARS-CoV-2 infection and...
Billions of doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered around the world, dramatically reducing SARS-CoV-2 incidence in some settings. Many studies suggest vaccines provide a high degree of...
2
11
66
A Marm Kilpatrick
@DiseaseEcology
·
9h
Here are VE for SYMPTOMATIC DISEASE & antibody neutralization fold-reductions for 4 vaccines & 4 variants. We could fit models to these data but notice empty space on graphs for >7-fold reductions - there are NO DATA. Thus we can't reliably estimate Omicron VE from these data.
Pathfinder
Editor, Senior Moderator
WHO: Omicron could have ‘major impact’, but no definitive answers yet
8 December 2021
Health
Features of the new COVID-19 variant Omicron, including the extent to which it will spread, and the sheer number of mutations, suggest that it could have a major impact on the course of the pandemic, but it’s still too early to say for sure.
That was one key takeaway from Wednesday’s latest weekly briefing on the virus from WHO Director General, Tedros Ghebreyesus, speaking to journalists in Geneva.
So far, Omicron has been reported in 57 countries, and WHO expects the number to continue growing.
Tedros highlighted “a consistent picture of rapid increase in transmission” but said that the exact rate of increase relative to other variants remains difficult to quantify.
Despite some data from South Africa suggesting increased risk of re-infection with Omicron, more data is needed. The variant might also cause milder disease than Delta, but there is no definitive answer yet.
“New data are emerging every day, but scientists need time to complete studies and interpret the results. We must be careful about drawing firm conclusions until we have a more complete picture”, Tedros explained.
In this context, the WHO chief called on all countries to increase surveillance, testing and sequencing.
“Any complacency now will cost lives”, he warned.
‘Act now’
Even though the world still needs answers to some crucial questions, Tedros said people everywhere are not defenceless against Omicron, or Delta.
“The steps countries take today, and in the coming days and weeks will determine how Omicron unfolds. If countries wait until their hospitals start to fill up, it’s too late. Don’t wait. Act now”, he said.
Tedros also asked countries to avoid “ineffective and discriminatory” travel bans.
This week, France and Switzerland have lifted their travel bans on southern African countries, and Tedros urge other countries to follow their lead.
WHO’s work
Every day, the UN Agency is convening thousands of experts around the world to share and analyse data and drive research forward.
For example, the Technical Advisory Group for Virus Evolution is assessing Omicron’s effect on transmission, disease severity, vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics.
The Joint Advisory Group on COVID-19 Therapeutics Prioritization is analysing the possible effects of Omicron on treatment of hospitalized patients.
The R&D Blueprint for Epidemics is working with researchers to identify knowledge gaps, and the Technical Advisory Group for COVID-19 Vaccine Composition, is assessing impacts on current vaccines and determining whether changes are needed.
No ‘forced’ vaccines: UN rights chief
Also on Wednesday, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, said that “in no circumstances should people be forcibly administered a vaccine”.
In a video address to the Human Rights Council, Ms. Bachelet maintained that it was “profoundly fortunate” that medical research had enabled vaccine development to move so swiftly to prevent the most severe forms of the coronavirus.
But the UN Human Rights chief warned that it seemed very unlikely that the target of protecting 40 per cent of the world's population by the end of 2021 will be met. And the target of 70 per cent by mid-2022 also appears unrealistic at this stage, Ms. Bachelet said.
https://news.un.org/en/story/2021/12/1107452
8 December 2021
Health
Features of the new COVID-19 variant Omicron, including the extent to which it will spread, and the sheer number of mutations, suggest that it could have a major impact on the course of the pandemic, but it’s still too early to say for sure.
That was one key takeaway from Wednesday’s latest weekly briefing on the virus from WHO Director General, Tedros Ghebreyesus, speaking to journalists in Geneva.
So far, Omicron has been reported in 57 countries, and WHO expects the number to continue growing.
Tedros highlighted “a consistent picture of rapid increase in transmission” but said that the exact rate of increase relative to other variants remains difficult to quantify.
Despite some data from South Africa suggesting increased risk of re-infection with Omicron, more data is needed. The variant might also cause milder disease than Delta, but there is no definitive answer yet.
“New data are emerging every day, but scientists need time to complete studies and interpret the results. We must be careful about drawing firm conclusions until we have a more complete picture”, Tedros explained.
In this context, the WHO chief called on all countries to increase surveillance, testing and sequencing.
“Any complacency now will cost lives”, he warned.
‘Act now’
Even though the world still needs answers to some crucial questions, Tedros said people everywhere are not defenceless against Omicron, or Delta.
“The steps countries take today, and in the coming days and weeks will determine how Omicron unfolds. If countries wait until their hospitals start to fill up, it’s too late. Don’t wait. Act now”, he said.
Tedros also asked countries to avoid “ineffective and discriminatory” travel bans.
This week, France and Switzerland have lifted their travel bans on southern African countries, and Tedros urge other countries to follow their lead.
WHO’s work
Every day, the UN Agency is convening thousands of experts around the world to share and analyse data and drive research forward.
For example, the Technical Advisory Group for Virus Evolution is assessing Omicron’s effect on transmission, disease severity, vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics.
The Joint Advisory Group on COVID-19 Therapeutics Prioritization is analysing the possible effects of Omicron on treatment of hospitalized patients.
The R&D Blueprint for Epidemics is working with researchers to identify knowledge gaps, and the Technical Advisory Group for COVID-19 Vaccine Composition, is assessing impacts on current vaccines and determining whether changes are needed.
No ‘forced’ vaccines: UN rights chief
Also on Wednesday, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, said that “in no circumstances should people be forcibly administered a vaccine”.
In a video address to the Human Rights Council, Ms. Bachelet maintained that it was “profoundly fortunate” that medical research had enabled vaccine development to move so swiftly to prevent the most severe forms of the coronavirus.
But the UN Human Rights chief warned that it seemed very unlikely that the target of protecting 40 per cent of the world's population by the end of 2021 will be met. And the target of 70 per cent by mid-2022 also appears unrealistic at this stage, Ms. Bachelet said.
https://news.un.org/en/story/2021/12/1107452
sharon sanders
Editor-in-Chief & President
Eric Topol
@EricTopol
·
1h
An Omicron overview, my 1st post
@SubstackInc
https://erictopol.substack.com/p/is-omicron-ominous… Aligns with latest review of risk assessment by
@UKHSA
, just published today https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1038442/3_December-2021-risk-assessment-for-SARS_Omicron_VOC-21NOV-01_B.1.1.529.pdf…
erictopol.substack.com
Is Omicron Ominous?
What we've learned from all the new data with this new variant
13
62
132
Eric Topol
@EricTopol
·
3h
@EricTopol
·
1h
An Omicron overview, my 1st post
@SubstackInc
https://erictopol.substack.com/p/is-omicron-ominous… Aligns with latest review of risk assessment by
@UKHSA
, just published today https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1038442/3_December-2021-risk-assessment-for-SARS_Omicron_VOC-21NOV-01_B.1.1.529.pdf…
erictopol.substack.com
Is Omicron Ominous?
What we've learned from all the new data with this new variant
13
62
132
Eric Topol
@EricTopol
·
3h
Pathfinder
Editor, Senior Moderator
ECDC -
Epidemiological update: Omicron variant of concern (VOC) – data as of 8 December 2021 (12.00)
Epidemiological update
8 Dec 2021
...
All cases for which there is available information on severity were either asymptomatic or mild. No deaths have been reported among these cases so far. These figures should be assessed with caution as the number of confirmed cases is too low to understand if the disease clinical spectrum of Omicron differs from that of previously detected variants.
...
Overall, globally there have been 1 458 confirmed cases reported by 55 countries, based on epidemic intelligence data from public sources (Table 1).
...
https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/news-events/epidemiological-update-omicron-data-8-december
Epidemiological update: Omicron variant of concern (VOC) – data as of 8 December 2021 (12.00)
Epidemiological update
8 Dec 2021
...
All cases for which there is available information on severity were either asymptomatic or mild. No deaths have been reported among these cases so far. These figures should be assessed with caution as the number of confirmed cases is too low to understand if the disease clinical spectrum of Omicron differs from that of previously detected variants.
...
Overall, globally there have been 1 458 confirmed cases reported by 55 countries, based on epidemic intelligence data from public sources (Table 1).
...
https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/news-events/epidemiological-update-omicron-data-8-december
gsgs
Registered User
https://www.capetalk.co.za/articles...s-like-people-don-t-get-as-sick-as-with-delta
> Three-quarters of Covid patients were in the hospital for other conditions, and only found out they had Covid-19 upon arrival.
> Hospital stays seem considerably shorter (2.8 days, on average) than during the pre-Omicron pandemic (8.5 days, on average).
{my estimate ; 5% of cases get hospitalised instead of 15% and 5% of hospitalised die instead of 15%)
> Three-quarters of Covid patients were in the hospital for other conditions, and only found out they had Covid-19 upon arrival.
> Hospital stays seem considerably shorter (2.8 days, on average) than during the pre-Omicron pandemic (8.5 days, on average).
{my estimate ; 5% of cases get hospitalised instead of 15% and 5% of hospitalised die instead of 15%)
gsgs
Registered User
cases in Tshwane were very low on Dec07 (Dec08 not yet available) is it going down in Tshwane already ?
Dec06:1698
Dec07: 461
looks like some reporting artefact
https://gis.nicd.ac.za/portal/apps/o...7606c1248578ff
some Tshwane newspaper should have it ?!
Dec06:1698
Dec07: 461
looks like some reporting artefact
https://gis.nicd.ac.za/portal/apps/o...7606c1248578ff
some Tshwane newspaper should have it ?!
gsgs
Registered User
https://www.citizen.co.za/news/vacci...-unvaccinated/
24/38 adults in the Covid wards on 2 December, 24 were unvaccinated,
eight had unknown vaccination status and only six had had the jabs.
8/9 of hospitalised for Covid pneumonia, were unvaccinated
80% of admissions were below the age of 50.
24/38 adults in the Covid wards on 2 December, 24 were unvaccinated,
eight had unknown vaccination status and only six had had the jabs.
8/9 of hospitalised for Covid pneumonia, were unvaccinated
80% of admissions were below the age of 50.
Emily
Editor, Senior Moderator
https://twitter.com/EthicalSkeptic/status/1468626432947593221
Ethical Skeptic
@EthicalSkeptic
Chart of concern. This red line from Omicron is false. Topol is a known source of propaganda - so this, as much as anything else, confirms that Omicron in no way originated from Alpha.
Quote Tweet
Eric Topol @EricTopol
· Dec 3
It took a year for #Omicron, the 5th variant of concern, to be detected after Gamma and Delta, picked up in late 2020
11:00 AM · Dec 8, 2021·Twitter Web App
Ethical Skeptic
@EthicalSkeptic
Chart of concern. This red line from Omicron is false. Topol is a known source of propaganda - so this, as much as anything else, confirms that Omicron in no way originated from Alpha.
Quote Tweet
Eric Topol @EricTopol
· Dec 3
It took a year for #Omicron, the 5th variant of concern, to be detected after Gamma and Delta, picked up in late 2020
11:00 AM · Dec 8, 2021·Twitter Web App