Health and Psychology

The Omicron Variant of Covid-19 was reported November 11, 2021 in South Africa. It has spread across the globe to multiple countries. It was labeled a variant of concern by the World Health Organization a couple of days ago due to changes in the spike protein that is targeted by the vaccines.

This variant is likely transmitted by droplet, so distance measures and mask wearing are likely to be effective. Because of the mutations in the virus thus far (there are millions of mutations, most are insignificant) there are likely to have mutations that are more or less transmissable and more or less lethal. This appears to be more transmissable. There are questions about illness severity that have not been answered yet.

The governments of several countries are closing their borders to countries with reported cases. This has been described in scientific circles as putting up a picket fence to stop mosquitoes. It's unlikely to work, and because the US doesn't do much genetic sequencing, the virus mutatioon is likely already here. Wear a mask. Stay away from other people as much as possible. I've turned down meeting with friends and relatives over the holidays. We can always meet by zoom or facetime.

If you haven't been vaccinated go get vaccinated. The technology has been around for decades and isn't new. You will likely need additional shots as the virus mutates and the vaccines lose potency over time. It will take 3-4 months for companies to gear up for a new vaccine to hit a different spike protein, but with mRNA, that's very quick.