Variant Race

Posted on by Thor

There are over 300 variants of Omicron now circulating. Many are more able to escape immunity offered by vaccination and former infection. They are also more effective than than BA.5 at binding to the ACE 2 receptors. In this mad race to infect, the variants to watch out for are BQ.1.1, BQ.1, BQ.1.3, BA.2.3.20, BA.2.75.2 and BA.7.

BQ.1 has taken the lead in Europe, particularly in France, Germany and Great Britain. It is very likely that the wave comming this fall and winter will be driven by many variants rather than one predominant variant like past waves.

As of October 16. 2022, BQ.1 and BQ.1.1, account for about 11% of the viruses sampled in the U.S., per data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. BA.4.6 and BF.7 are also gaining traction in the U.S., accounting for about 12.2% and 5.3% of sampled viruses respectively, per the data. XBB, another mutated version of Omicron, may be best suited to evade immunity, including a breakthrough BA.5 infection, The Washington Post reported.

COVID-19 response coordinator Ashish Jha said earlier this month that the White House is monitoring “the rise of several subvariants.” NIAID director Anthony Fauci also warned last week about the BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 variants, which he called “pretty troublesome” due to their rate of increase. Meanwhile the CDC director Rochelle Walensky has tested positive for a COVID-19 infection.

The director’s case comes amid concerns among Biden administration officials and public health experts alike about a tough Covid-19 winter ahead, with hospitalizations already on the rise in Europe. This despite the fact that Biden thought it wise to announce that he thought the pandemic was “over”. In the US, hospitalizations have leveled out,, and I suspect will begin to rise soon. About 300 to 400 people continue to die every day from the virus. This is the insane new normal. Just a quick news flash, COVID is an airborne virus and simply wearing a mask in crowded settings can greatly reduce your chance of infection. Walensky has abandoned advising mask wearing and look how that turned out.

C Section 27

Posted on by Thor

Newsweek reported that an unvaccinated 27 year old mother of 6 from Texas, died of COVID-19 after giving birth. Her husband had tested positive for COVID shortly after New Year’s Day 2022. She was pregnant with the couple’s sixth child at the time.

Soon she began to feel unwell and experienced shortness of breath and chest tightness, her husband told news outlet ABC 13.

After a visit to the hospital on January 4, 2022 the mom was immediately admitted because her oxygen levels were low. She was then diagnosed with pneumonia due to COVID-19.

Within days, doctors performed an emergency C-section to deliver the couple’s baby, a boy called Koda born at 25 weeks, according to a GoFundMe donation page set up for the family. This story caught my eye since Koda was the name of the bear Cub I worked on at Disney Feature Animation for the film, Brother Bear.

The mother’s condition began to improve over the following weeks, but then suddenly deteriorated. She died shortly afterwards, in mid-January 2022.

The father told ABC 13 that both he and his wife had not been vaccinated against COVID as “it all happened so fast and it was being pushed on us very fast,” saying: “She was pregnant and so she had some concerns.”

Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said in August 2021 that the COVID vaccines were “safe and effective,” including for those who are pregnant and breastfeeding. CDC analysis at the time did not find an increased risk of miscarriage among nearly 2,500 pregnant women who received an mRNA COVID vaccine before 20 weeks of pregnancy. Unfortunately, health messaging dos not always reach those who most need to hear it in time. There are also others who simply do not want to hear or understand the science.

9 Fully Vaccinated Yankees Infected

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Nine NY Yankees fully vaccinated with Johnson & Johnson, have tested positive for Covid-19. One player, shortstop Gleyber Torres tested positive for Covid-19 despite being fully vaccinated and having previously contracted the coronavirus during the off season.

Also testing positive were pitching coach Matt Blake, third base coach Phil Nevin, first base coach Reggie Willits and four traveling staff.

All but one of those infected were asymptomatic meaning they could spread the virus not even knowing they had the COVID virus.

“When you read the fine print, they tell you that you still could get the Covid and the vaccination is to protect you from the symptoms, either to eliminate them all together and protect you if not fully protection then the percentages,” New York general manager Brian Cashman said.

“With regard to the Yankees, we obviously need to learn more about that situation,” CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said. “My understanding is that six of the seven reports, six of the seven infections, were indeed asymptomatic infections. And we will look to more data from that report to understand what happened there. All of the real-world data we’ve seen that’s been in the published literature, large studies, in many different settings, have demonstrated that those vaccines are effective, have a high effectiveness against disease.”

The Yankees said the team is undergoing additional testing and contact tracing, with the assistance of the baseball commissioner’s office and its medical experts. The New York State Department of Health is advising the team. “We’ve been rocked here the last several days,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “I think it’s stopped all of us a little bit in our tracks. We’re dealing with a lot. Our heads are spinning trying to get our hands wrapped around everything.”

So as we rush to return to normal by removing all our masks, you might wonder, are breakthrough cases possible? Well when half of a team can be re-infected, I would venture to say, yes.