Perhaps, or people just won’t fly, when they could drive instead.
btw: 100% vax rate is not possible. There will always be 5-10% who have legit medical reasons for not getting vaccinated. And getting to that theoretical ~95% max defies common sense. I’m sure even Fauci would never claim that is reasonable.
I’m all for mandates but I do wonder why anyone would say we should vaccinate now for air travel when we’ve been told over and over that it’s been safe to travel if everyone is masked.
I’m also all for a shortened isolation period like is now in place for essential medical workers but, if it’s ok and safe now, then why have we been doing ten days for two years now?
Sounds like a win-win
I’m not sure that a shortened isolation period for HCW is a good idea. They are exhausted already and many suffer from long covid. My landscape architect came by to assess some areas for me and give me an estimate. They said they had covid over the summer and are still suffering long covid. They said how it was incredible how thoughts would be in their head but they couldn’t physically write anything - the process from the brain to the fingertips wasn’t working. They had to have an associate do the writing and adding for the estimate. Meanwhile, their emails to me didn’t make sense grammatically. I weeded through and figured out what they were trying to tell me. Do you want someone with those symptoms taking care of you? The brain fog with covid is real and rushing back to work will cause (preventable) errors. There needs to be another way. I understand about short staffing but this is not the answer. HCW want to get back to work - staying away you feel guilty for “sloughing” your work onto a colleague.
I’m amazed that people think that the federal government mandating vaccinations either directly through OSHA or indirectly through travel restrictions is a good idea when such a ruling will definitely be challenged in court, would be certain to cause further division in the country, and is highly likely to be invalidated as inconsistent with the federal government’s constitutional powers.
I’m concerned that Fauci’s latest statements about travel (including permanent masking on planes) are a lose-lose proposition: if the administration endorses them then it will stoke division even more (and ensure a wipeout in the 2022 elections), while if the administration rejects them then it will further undermine trust in the CDC.
The approach here in England (where we are visiting for the holidays) of refusing to impose further mandatory restrictions, while encouraging personal responsibility about boosters and social activities, seems like the only plausible long term option and something that eventually other countries will have to get behind.
Are the people of Britain on board with Covid restrictions and vaccinations? I know I could look for that answer but figure it’s easy to ask quickly here. In the US, we have a very large minority unwilling to change anything about their lives and whole states where governors make decisions counter to CDC guidance. Also, doesn’t London make people show vaccine cards to dine, etc?
Probably a lot lower than 5-10%, based on >90% or >95% vaccination rates for some populations (both optional and required vaccination rules), especially with three choices of vaccines (and possibly more available later).
For example, some colleges have been reported as having >95% vaccination rates, and 97% of NBA players are vaccinated. The few not vaccinated includes those who are refusing or exempt for non medical reasons, so the percentage of medical exemptions is even smaller.
There may be some who do not gain much immune response from vaccination, but that is different from not being able to get vaccinated.
CDC cutting recommended quarantine period in half, going from 10 days to 5.
They were very compliant with a much more aggressive lockdown than in the US last year. And there’s a lot of trust in vaccines, except amongst some minorities/foreigners who aren’t so familiar with the National Health Service. Testing is ubiquitous and free (over 100M tests taken each week ie nearly 2 per person). Some places require a negative test or vaccination, but they’re not vaccination only.
But now most people we know feel that it’s best to avoid further mandates and that they can judge the appropriate level of risk that they are willing to take for themselves. We’ve had a nice Christmas with relatives, all testing regularly. A few meals out (indoors since the weather is poor) but not many other people close by.
Interestingly, Scotland and Wales have imposed additional restrictions on gatherings. Partly that seems to reflect a desire of their local governments to be seen doing something (since their wider political responsibilities are much more limited) and partly a more communitarian/less libertarian political outlook. But the sentiments we’ve heard in England are quite opposed to those actions.
That’s the difference. Most EU citizens trust their government. We’ve been browbeaten to not trust ours. Good luck with personal responsibility here!
This is highly dependant on the individual. AS far as the isolation period goes though, it’s about being infectious, not competent.
Agree but being a physician yourself you know how people feel guilty for staying home and having others do their work. You know too many people who feel they can just “power through”. Now being told they can go back to work after 5 days if they’re asymptomatic, that’s additional guilt and stress, additional need to power through and not accept that maybe they aren’t 100% there mentally. But the CDC says they should be, so they can just go to work even if in the back of their head they know that maybe they’re not there yet. Let them heal and go back when ready. So they can walk in the door and have garbage thrown at them by patients…
Very true! I worked sick for years. Not in the new paradigm though. I’m not saving lives on a daily basis though.
Okay…I need to look for humor where I can these days. I know I don’t understand the deep medical meaning of this but the title had me snorting my coffee…and maybe there will be a supply chain issue with these hamsters in the near term future.
The omicron (B.1.1.529) SARS-CoV-2 variant of concern does not readily infect Syrian hamsters
Much respect to you, especially with your username!
Yes, they are reporting that the omicron variant doesn’t replicate well in the lungs. Similar reports in humans, which is thought to be one reason why this variant doesn’t produce as severe disease as others. Agree the title is a little clickbait. You need to get out more…(just kidding 
). Have you watched Ghosts? Just giving a recommendation for a funny TV show.
Syrian hamster is a pretty decent animal model for studying coronavirus infections, apparently, because the virus infects the animal’s lungs and mimics the human infection.
https://www.pnas.org/content/117/28/16587
(And yes, there have been multiple supply chain issues hitting biomedical research, from $1M instruments to $.05 plastic tubes being impossible to find).
Every morning for the last few days I come in to see an email asking to round on patients that can be discharged first in order to free up the bed because daily we have between 90 and 100 patients being held in the emergency department waiting for admission.
At my hospital workplace, colleagues have been praying to get a positive COVID test so they get nearly “two weeks extra vacation”. Everyone has been exhausted from the pandemic and need a break from the grind. Most of their own friends and family have been able to work from home and they have seen the advantages of it and that has made their on toll feel worse.
I believe there are at least two answers to this. One is that Omicron is supposedly running through people quicker, so people get past the infectious phase quicker, and are genuinely safer to put back into society than people who were infected last year with earlier versions. Another reason is evolving knowledge….we first had 14 day quarantines, but as they studied and learned it was ok to reduce it to 10 days, that happened, etc. Starting with a “better safe than sorry” approach, and then reducing the time period as data proves it is ok. Anyway, that’s my take. Everything I’ve read makes me think this is a good move. There may be a few outlier people who are released too soon, but if they follow the rules, they will at least be masking for the remaining 5 days, and there really should be precious few who are still infectious at that point. I think an added benefit of the shorter quarantine is that it is much less onerous which may increase compliance! Irresponsible People who dreaded a 10 day quarantine as being an unimaginable thing may have just ditched it; 5 days (with a good likelihood that part of it falls over the weekend) may get more people to do it, so that may balance out the few outliers. I bet on the whole, this is a good move.
Saw this and wonder if it will be the same in breakthrough cases now that we’re post vaccine. Will the vaccine’s lessening the effects work on lessening all effects or stay the same as asymptomatic Covid effects?
I know it matches what medical lad has said they’re worried about where he is - what sort of damage are they going to see down the road from all of the “other” issues Covid brings about in the various organs.
Studies like this also give me pause when wondering if catching a less problematic variant like Omicron - post vaccine - is potentially a good path or not. I hope they’ve been studying more and can provide updated info relatively soon. We’re not getting any younger.
The study found that the virus had replicated across multiple organ systems even among patients with asymptomatic to mild COVID-19.
The virus was detected in all 44 cases and across 79 of 85 anatomical locations and body fluids sampled.
While the “highest burden” of infection was in the lungs and airway, the study showed the virus can “disseminate early during infection and infect cells throughout the entire body,” including in the brain, as well as in ocular tissue, muscles, skin, peripheral nerves and tissues in the cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, endocrine and lymphatic systems.
“Our data support an early viremic phase, which seeds the virus throughout the body following pulmonary infection,” the researchers wrote.
The implications of long COVID-19 are still not fully understood, though the issue is likely to persist for years.