New info is preliminary, but seems to have caused an increase in hospitalizations and deaths in southern France. :fran
The question with every new variant is still "Will it be contagious enough to out-compete Omicron?" and my layperson's guess with this one is "likely not", just as the more-deadly Lambda variant from last year was largely out-competed by Delta.
Scientific paper about the new variant: https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.12.24.21268174v1?fbclid=IwAR2_nQz4CYuCxUP_wFVMcvFmyU5Cp_57akROq5aqnuOGvGhG09aGnmPjxcw
Edit: Nitter link
This is so good I'm gonna steal it and use it on friends and family who aren't on :hexbear-retro:
I could photoshop this, but I'm too tired. Just pretend I did and tell me I'm talented.
It's not the rho variant unless it's from the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of France, otherwise it's just sparkling coronavirus
The new strain sweeps across France, Italy, and the rest of Europe (except England because reasons) only to be stopped by Russian vaccines. Classic play.
I'm sure the totally not white supremacists on worldnews will blame the exotic meats the French eat just like they did with China, otherwise that previous behavior would just be racism which they assured me it wasn't.
It's not the people, it's the government. But it's also the people.
Christ, I totally forgot Lambda was a thing. We really are fucking this one up, aren't we?
I wonder if there's gonna come a point where they don't need to outcompete watch other. I mean, it's not as if we're using a variety of different vaccines with differing methods and resiliency while all the while not being enough to create herd immunity. 🤷♂️
That's what happened with the flu, and why flu vaccines can be hit or miss — they usually cover 3-4 different strains
Somewhat skeptical of the reasoning in this tweet: https://twitter.com/OAlexanderDK/status/1477767603410067464 .
Most people who get seriously ill aren't vaccinated, so a difference between 9% unvaccinated and 15% unvaccinated is very significant.
My 2022 prediction is that the NFT economy will be replaced by betting markets betting on if new variants will be more/less deadly/contagious than other variants.
Like a horse race but dystopian.
