Omicron Variants Shift Again, By Jondi Gumz

COMMUNITY NEWS

Omicron Variants Shift Again

By Jondi Gumz

In the past two weeks of December, the less deadly Omicron subvariants shifted again, according to weekly Nowcast projections by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention.

BQ1.1: Down from 38.4% of cases to 35.7%.

BQ.1: Down from 30.7% to 27.4%.

XBB: Up from 7.2% to 18.3%

BA.5: Down from 10% to 6.9%.

The most recent “bivalent” booster targets the once-pervasive BA.5 variant along with the original 2020 coronavirus.

This is important because scientists in new independent studies published in Nature and the Lancet report the bivalent booster “did not produce robust neutralization against the newly emerged BA.2.75.2, BQ.1.1, or XBB.1” — in other words, these newer subvariants can evade immunity from infection and vaccination.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stopped reporting Covid cases on Sept. 21, recognizing 95% of Americans age 16 and up had some immunity from vaccination or infection.

Now that immunity may be in question.

The bivalent combo was expedited by federal officials who asked drug-makers to test on mice rather than humans.

Pfizer submitted data based on 8 mice, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted emergency use authorization.

On Dec. 8, the FDA amended that emergency use authorization to allow bivalent Covid-19 vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer for children as young as 6 months.

California reports 60.7% of people have primary vaccinations and boosters, and 21.4% got the bivalent booster.

In Santa Cruz County, 60.7% have primary vaccinations and boosters, and 29.4% got the bivalent booster.

Gov. Newsom plans to lift the state of Covid-19 emergency in California on Feb. 28.

Meanwhile in Uganda, health officials report they are not seeing Covid cases in the hospitals, not seeing people getting vaccinated, not seeing people with respiratory distress, according to John Campbell, a retired nurse educator with a PhD based in England who has been producing daily video reports on studies and data.

Treat at Home

After Thanksgiving, Santa Cruz County health officials reported a surge in influenza and respiratory syncytial virus cases along with Covid and asked people with no symptoms or mild cases, or other non-serious illnesses, to “avoid unnecessary trips to already burdened hospital emergency departments.”

People with significant difficulty breathing, intense chest pain, severe weakness, or an elevated temperature that persists for days are among those who should consider seeking emergency medical care for their condition, health officials said.

They said people with “relatively mild” respiratory infections “can effectively recover from their illness at home, or by seeking primary care treatment and/or speaking with their primary care provider.”

See the CDC guidance for RSV at https://www.cdc.gov/rsv/clinical/index. html

Researchers say the new Covid-19 variants are more spreadable, but the state’s test positivity rate slipped from 11.7% to 10.6%, and there is no indication they are more deadly than previous versions.

According to CDC data, vaccinated people made up 42% of Covid deaths in January and February 2022 during the peak of the Omicron surge, compared with 23% during the Delta surge in September 2021.

Grand Jury

On Dec. 22, the Florida Supreme Court agreed to convene a grand jury as requested by Gov. Ron DeSantis to investigate any wrongdoing with respect to Covid-19 vaccines. The grand jury will meet for one year.

Studies funded by drugmakers that developed the vaccines have been published in peer-reviewed journals, and federal regulators granted emergency use authorization after reviewing data on their safety and effectiveness.

Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo pointed out that pharmaceutical companies have not provided their data on Covid-19 vaccines to independent researchers.

DeSantis contends the drugmakers had a financial interest in creating a climate in which people believed that getting a coronavirus vaccine would ensure they would not spread the virus to others.

Fired Employees Settle

On Dec. 19, U.S. District Judge John Kness approved a $10.3 million settlement for about 500 workers fired by NorthShore University Healthsystem in Illinois for refusing to get a Covid-19 vaccine.

Each fired worker stands to receive $24,225. The named plaintiffs are in line to receive an extra $20,000.

Lawyers for Liberty Counsel, who represented the 13 initial named plaintiffs and won class action status for others, said Kness approved of the settlement verbally and will release a written judgment next week.

NorthShore in a statement wrote, “We are pleased with the Court’s approval of a supportive resolution to this matter.” “This case should set a precedent for other employers who have violated the law by denying religious exemptions for their employees,” Harry Mihet, vice president of legal affairs for Liberty Counsel, said in a statement.

On Nov. 27, a published report by six pathologists from Heidelberg (Germany) University Hospital who performed autopsies on 25 individuals who died unexpectedly at home and within 20 days after Covid vaccination.

They found five cases where “autopsy findings indicated death due to acute arrhythmogenic cardiac failure. Thus, myocarditis can be a potentially lethal complication following mRNA-based antiSARS-CoV-2 vaccination.”

None had signs of a pre-existing heart disease.

The study, “Autopsy-based histopathological characterization of myocarditis after anti-SARS-CoV-2-vaccination,” appeared in Clinical Research in Cardiology, official journal of the German Cardiac Society.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says on its website that deaths after COVID-19 vaccination are rare and that reports of adverse effects after vaccination, including deaths, “do not necessarily mean that a vaccine caused a health problem.”

Deaths per day in the U.S. jumped this week to 1,024, according to ycharts.com, compared to 3,000 last winter when the Delta variant raged.

Data for 2021 and 2022 show deaths peak in January.

“COVID Update” page 9

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