Theres no new information in this article but it’s interesting for a couple of reasons
First, in regard to omicron it admits the sub variants “are genetically different enough that they could have had their own Greek names. But for some reason, this did not happen, and the World Health Organization designated them as subvariants of Omicron.”
It’s essential to keep the brand name “Omicron” because that was sold to the public as being less dangerous (now known to be false) and suitable for herd immunity (it’s not - it’s exceptionally good at re-infection), so any newly named variant would destroy the illusion that Covid is ‘over’.
Second, the article points out the Wuhan strain had an R0 of 3.3, whereas the latest Omicron variant has an R0 of 18.6, ie it’s the most contagious virus ever along with measles.
Third, not only is the latest Omicron strain a ‘master at evading immunity’, “a Japanese research group found that in lab-based, cell-culture experiments, BA.4/5 was able to replicate more efficiently in the lungs than BA.2. In hamster experiments, it developed into more serious illness.”.
The article ends by noting that new Omicron specific vaccines are on the way (in trials). But given the number of anti-vaxxers and the fact that the ip will be locked up, Omnicron will surely evolve away from these and the vaccines will fail in the same way that the original ones did.
Its unusual to see an msm source be so blunt with the facts. I wonder how long society can continue amidst ever increasing death and long term damage while the fiction that ‘Covid is over’ competes with the fiction that it was always just like the flu. There must be some kind of tipping point…
With long COVID I'm primarily concerned about how much it ties up medical resources. One thing hogs always point to is that cancer and heart disease kill so many more people. Those patients and their complex specialist needs are competing for appointment slots with chronic COVID impacts. Since COVID is affecting so many systems, that's everything from transplant surgeons to cardiologists to radiology to labs to ambulances to nursing homes. An increased burden on the medical system as staff are leaving because of the trauma of treating COVID and the existing resource strain will only compound the things destroying that system. It's hard to measure what a COVID death is when you're just a regular cardiomyopathy patient who can't get a new heart because there's a surge in demand for them and fewer beds available. Both on individual and systemic levels each new wave is going to take away more of our jenga blocks that allow us to withstand the next one.