Tell Me :
Talk
I don't know where you reside but here in the U.K. there is no crisis most people have been vaccinated and the worst of covid is behind us despite what some doomsday merchants want you to believe.
Show me one example of when I have ever displayed a threatening nature on here.
Are you not capable of seeing the difference between a threat and an observation.
Nate
That the 8-10 people that still go to music stores will have to buckle up and buy online?
You can hardly buy a good guitar physically these days. I wouldn't buy one online. Cognac I don't care.
Yes I can follow....I still have my Christmas records from last year................but I'm out of liquor.....
__________________________
You must be retired
__________________________
My mind is open. I have read your nonsensical opinions. Let's face it, you are spewing your political views but not man enough to accept that they are political. Supporting Bernie in 2016 means little when you are parroting the Fox News narrative in 2021.
Not once have I advocated closing schools despite your assumption. Vaccine requirements and testing is the answer. Claiming suicides and drug overdoses are caused by Covid is no different from claiming drunk driving and STDs are caused by Covid. Currently drug overdoses are caused largely by fentanyl which is a relatively new thing in the US. People have used drugs for ages but now people are dying at a higher rate because there is a new unexpected chemical that is 100 times stronger lacing the same drugs. Increase in suicides is also a function of many issues. Blaming it just on Covid is a cop out.
I guess you also think a 25 year old that thinks they have the right to drive drunk. So what if they kill someone.
No, those went away many months ago, it seems. NJ, PA, anyway ... I believe NY has brought it back, if not the state then at least NYC, but I haven't been to NY in a several months so not entirely sure.
LOL. The article is talking about fear being whipped up by the media. The last paragraph makes a passing reference to red and blue states. I am not American. Go through this thread and count how many times CNN has been used as a news source and then get back to me about politically biased propaganda.
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2021-12-22 23:56 by terraplane.
After we're done with covid it will be the next disease sad but through.....I see it at my own home some of my children and family especially the youngsters and don't forget the shop owners .........
Great point - BTW are they still pushing the BS - "CNN The Most Trusted Name in News"? Who in the world is still watching that channel/news feed - I actually thought they went off the air years ago
Agree with you...however without a good alternative you have runaway COVID, and runaway changes in the virus.
Over 800000 have died in the US, with restrictions and jabs.
The kill rate is 2% and probably higher if you just let it run it's course, so 10 million dead Americans (and I'm just using them as a convenient example) is worth it? Yes the suicides are tragic but you're not going to have that many suicides because of restrictions.
AND, think about the suicide rate if you let the virus run rampant? All the additional kids without parents. You think they're depressed now, imagine how depressed they'd be wallowing in a sea of sickness.
So you are drinking more, taking drugs and are suicidal?
I'm drinking more...but not sure if that is due to COVID restrictions. Drinking at home more, so saving money.
Dude every now and then, just for yucks, you should step out of that cartoon you’re living in.
I have and I keep finding covidiots, conspiracy theorists and morons. I am sure I spotted you there.
I only drink to make other people seem more interesting.
Nate
Hey! That’s one of my lines!
Yes, there is a big difference. But have you tried to see just the numbers, without dividing between the good vaxed and the Bad unvaxed?
For a fatality risk that low it seems insane to keep pushing fear, shut down economy, cultural and most impportantly social life!
People need to keep a cool head, indulge in less media (coverage all around is biased, wether left or right, someone needs to pay for those ads) and stop taking the moral highground, especially those residing in developed countries.
It's the owners of the physical music stores, selling instruments like guitars, keyboards, amps, guitar repair etc that are in trouble. Of course you can buy things online but it never replaces the quality and info a good seller provides; demonstrating instruments, let people play in an isolated room to judge the sound of an instrument. It's also a cultural thing: mental
food like musical instruments cannot be replaced by cheap cold online return service, which is killing the authentic music store
anyway. Corona might be the last straw.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2021-12-23 14:45 by TheflyingDutchman.
That's great news...... I read more and more that omicron looks milder
Great news if that holds.
Talk about your favorite band.
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Re: Coronavirus COVID-19 status around the world
Posted by:
TheflyingDutchman
()
Date: December 22, 2021 22:10
Quote
NateQuote
TheflyingDutchman
In Holland music stores are closed, liquor stores are open. Can you follow?
Tax revenue
Nate
Re: Coronavirus COVID-19 status around the world
Posted by:
Nate
()
Date: December 22, 2021 22:20
Quote
treaclefingersQuote
yorkshirestone*shakes head* so we’ve gone from scientists scaremongering, to unevidenced claims, to politicians better watch out or else. Wider than usual range of nonsense this eveQuote
NateQuote
yorkshirestoneMore rambling and no evidence then?Quote
Nate
I think most people who are no longer in favour of restrictions would use much stronger language than a bit inconvenient and no doubt some will even take things much further than words.If I was someone in the halls of power carrying on with this charade I would be very seriously improving my security.
Nate
I believe someone was arrested in Germany just last week for planning to assassinate a politician because of covid restrictions.
Many people around the world are not fortunate enough to receive financial help from authorities that have taken away their livelihood.If you want to see blood then this is guaranteed when you start taking food from peoples tables.
Nate
I think it's a bit more than nonsense. People like "Nate" and their bottled up anger are a powder keg. Rather than recognize we're in a crisis they try to do everything to deny it then act surprised, hurt and angry when things aren't proven to their way of thinking.
Scary that a dufus like that throwing out vague threats is even allowed to post on here.
I don't know where you reside but here in the U.K. there is no crisis most people have been vaccinated and the worst of covid is behind us despite what some doomsday merchants want you to believe.
Show me one example of when I have ever displayed a threatening nature on here.
Are you not capable of seeing the difference between a threat and an observation.
Nate
Re: Coronavirus COVID-19 status around the world
Posted by:
treaclefingers
()
Date: December 22, 2021 22:22
Quote
TheflyingDutchman
In Holland music stores are closed, liquor stores are open. Can you follow?
That the 8-10 people that still go to music stores will have to buckle up and buy online?
Re: Coronavirus COVID-19 status around the world
Posted by:
TheflyingDutchman
()
Date: December 22, 2021 22:26
Quote
treaclefingersQuote
TheflyingDutchman
In Holland music stores are closed, liquor stores are open. Can you follow?
That the 8-10 people that still go to music stores will have to buckle up and buy online?
You can hardly buy a good guitar physically these days. I wouldn't buy one online. Cognac I don't care.
Re: Coronavirus COVID-19 status around the world
Posted by:
NICOS
()
Date: December 22, 2021 22:33
Quote
TheflyingDutchman
In Holland music stores are closed, liquor stores are open. Can you follow?
Yes I can follow....I still have my Christmas records from last year................but I'm out of liquor.....
__________________________
Re: Coronavirus COVID-19 status around the world
Posted by:
TheflyingDutchman
()
Date: December 22, 2021 22:41
Quote
NICOSQuote
TheflyingDutchman
In Holland music stores are closed, liquor stores are open. Can you follow?
Yes I can follow....I still have my Christmas records from last year................but I'm out of liquor.....
You must be retired
Re: Coronavirus COVID-19 status around the world
Posted by:
NICOS
()
Date: December 22, 2021 22:47
Quote
TheflyingDutchmanQuote
NICOSQuote
TheflyingDutchman
In Holland music stores are closed, liquor stores are open. Can you follow?
Yes I can follow....I still have my Christmas records from last year................but I'm out of liquor.....
You must be retired
__________________________
Re: Coronavirus COVID-19 status around the world
Posted by:
daspyknows
()
Date: December 22, 2021 23:15
Quote
RokyfanQuote
daspyknowsQuote
RokyfanQuote
bv
USA current numbers:
1 covid-19 deaths per 1 million with booster dose vaccine
61 covid-19 deaths per 1 million non-vaccinated
Similar numbers are seen in other countries. The majority of people with covid-19 in intensive care are now non-vaccinated.
There is no need to worry about covid-19 as long as you are vaccinated according to recommendations from the health authorities.
EXACTLY. There is no need to worry if you are vaccinated. That was the point, so we could get on with our lives.
The other side of the ledger is record suicides, record drug overdoses, thousands of undiagnosed cancer cases all the direct result of lockdowns. This is real death and destruction also. Young people whose education will never recover.
For two years I can't get the line from Salt of the Earth out of my head about how we need leaders . . . . Not a political comment, addressed to all sides and in particular our public health "experts."
Yeah 800,000 suicides the last 2 years in the US. A few million worldwide. Drug overdoses have been occurring whether or not there are lockdowns. Are we going to blame drunk driving crashes on the lockdown too? How about STDs? We get it, you don't like lockdowns. The majority of those who make the comments you do claim its not political but in reality it is. Those are the talking points from one political side.
Doctors and nurses are fed up. They take care of sick people yes, but someone with health issues due to smoking, drinking, drugs, obesity do not expose them to a virus that puts them at risk. They are leaving the profession because of Covid and anti-vax stupidity.
Please. You can't address the facts so you make up your drunk driving and STD straw men.
yeah there are suicides and ODs anyway. So what's a few more right? Another example of your brilliant logic.
You are a walking political talking point. You talk about "most people" who say what i say. In fact, I never voted for a republican in my life and the last national candidate i supported was Bernie. I got 2 Pfizer shots in the spring and a Moderna booster last month. I'm as protected as I can be. I don't care about my neighbor, she's no greater threat to me whether she's vaccinated or not. I'm 68 years old. I think if a 25 year old decides that the risk of the shots is greater than covid then they have that right. I guess that makes me an "anti-vaxxer" with my three shots. Brilliant.
And in my state , New York, I am unaware of professionals retiring because of "anti-vax stupidity." You just make that up. The facts are that our governor fired 70,000 health care workers because they refused to get the shots. That's the stupidity at work here. People that were not spreading anything. With the result that people will die unnecessarily. Real people not political talking points.
And my daughter is a NYC public school teacher in an inner city school. We have a generation that will never recover from the harm resulting from the school closures, kids that have forgotten even how to sit still in class. I know, the schools were bad already, right? That's your logic. Lots of kids would have been failures anyway, just like people would have died from cancer anyway.
Open your mind.
My mind is open. I have read your nonsensical opinions. Let's face it, you are spewing your political views but not man enough to accept that they are political. Supporting Bernie in 2016 means little when you are parroting the Fox News narrative in 2021.
Not once have I advocated closing schools despite your assumption. Vaccine requirements and testing is the answer. Claiming suicides and drug overdoses are caused by Covid is no different from claiming drunk driving and STDs are caused by Covid. Currently drug overdoses are caused largely by fentanyl which is a relatively new thing in the US. People have used drugs for ages but now people are dying at a higher rate because there is a new unexpected chemical that is 100 times stronger lacing the same drugs. Increase in suicides is also a function of many issues. Blaming it just on Covid is a cop out.
I guess you also think a 25 year old that thinks they have the right to drive drunk. So what if they kill someone.
Re: Coronavirus COVID-19 status around the world
Posted by:
LeonidP
()
Date: December 22, 2021 23:16
Quote
treaclefingersQuote
LeonidPQuote
KoenQuote
LeonidPQuote
MAF
We have no time for such discussions. Omicron is spreading very fast and it can kill you. Prevention is the easiest way now.
By the way: People working in ICU a pretty fed up with fighting for the lives of unvaccinated people. And some of them have quit their job.
You can't prevent it, its too far gone. Just keep up w/ shots & boosters so that hopefully you get mild symptoms.
And masks, wear masks.
Not me. I wear if required, such as a recent flight I had to take. They also made me wear one for the booster shot. Other than that, I have not worn a mask in a long time.
Do you not need to wear one in stores where you live? In our jurisdiction that has never changed.
No, those went away many months ago, it seems. NJ, PA, anyway ... I believe NY has brought it back, if not the state then at least NYC, but I haven't been to NY in a several months so not entirely sure.
Re: Coronavirus COVID-19 status around the world
Posted by:
terraplane
()
Date: December 22, 2021 23:31
Quote
bv
I am surprised that you post links to politically biased propaganda. The above link is pointing to a so called "Opinion", a highly political one, not based on science, not on facts, but rather based on propaganda. The person behind the opinion:
Heather Mac Donald : Heather Lynn Mac Donald is an American conservative political commentator... During the COVID-19 pandemic, she criticized March 2020 shelter-in-place policies as "unbridled panic". She argued that COVID-19 would have a similar casualty rate as the flu. Medical journals, the World Health Organization and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have, however, estimated that COVID-19 is substantially deadlier. (Wikipedia)
LOL. The article is talking about fear being whipped up by the media. The last paragraph makes a passing reference to red and blue states. I am not American. Go through this thread and count how many times CNN has been used as a news source and then get back to me about politically biased propaganda.
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2021-12-22 23:56 by terraplane.
Re: Coronavirus COVID-19 status around the world
Posted by:
Nate
()
Date: December 23, 2021 00:06
Anyone who seriously believes that covid restrictions have not had an extremely damaging affect on peoples mental health which in some cases can definitely lead to increased drug use heavy drinking and even suicide is delusional.
Nate
Nate
Re: Coronavirus COVID-19 status around the world
Posted by:
NICOS
()
Date: December 23, 2021 00:33
Quote
Nate
Anyone who seriously believes that covid restrictions have not had an extremely damaging affect on peoples mental health which in some cases can definitely lead to increased drug use heavy drinking and even suicide is delusional.
Nate
After we're done with covid it will be the next disease sad but through.....I see it at my own home some of my children and family especially the youngsters and don't forget the shop owners .........
Re: Coronavirus COVID-19 status around the world
Posted by:
2000 LYFH
()
Date: December 23, 2021 00:44
Quote
terraplaneQuote
bv
I am surprised that you post links to politically biased propaganda. The above link is pointing to a so called "Opinion", a highly political one, not based on science, not on facts, but rather based on propaganda. The person behind the opinion:
Heather Mac Donald : Heather Lynn Mac Donald is an American conservative political commentator... During the COVID-19 pandemic, she criticized March 2020 shelter-in-place policies as "unbridled panic". She argued that COVID-19 would have a similar casualty rate as the flu. Medical journals, the World Health Organization and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have, however, estimated that COVID-19 is substantially deadlier. (Wikipedia)
LOL. The article is talking about fear being whipped up by the media. The last paragraph makes a passing reference to red and blue states. I am not American. Go through this thread and count how many times CNN has been used as a news source and then get back to me about politically biased propaganda.
Great point - BTW are they still pushing the BS - "CNN The Most Trusted Name in News"? Who in the world is still watching that channel/news feed - I actually thought they went off the air years ago
Re: Coronavirus COVID-19 status around the world
Posted by:
treaclefingers
()
Date: December 23, 2021 01:08
Quote
Nate
Anyone who seriously believes that covid restrictions have not had an extremely damaging affect on peoples mental health which in some cases can definitely lead to increased drug use heavy drinking and even suicide is delusional.
Nate
Agree with you...however without a good alternative you have runaway COVID, and runaway changes in the virus.
Over 800000 have died in the US, with restrictions and jabs.
The kill rate is 2% and probably higher if you just let it run it's course, so 10 million dead Americans (and I'm just using them as a convenient example) is worth it? Yes the suicides are tragic but you're not going to have that many suicides because of restrictions.
AND, think about the suicide rate if you let the virus run rampant? All the additional kids without parents. You think they're depressed now, imagine how depressed they'd be wallowing in a sea of sickness.
Re: Coronavirus COVID-19 status around the world
Posted by:
daspyknows
()
Date: December 23, 2021 01:38
Quote
Nate
Anyone who seriously believes that covid restrictions have not had an extremely damaging affect on peoples mental health which in some cases can definitely lead to increased drug use heavy drinking and even suicide is delusional.
Nate
So you are drinking more, taking drugs and are suicidal?
Re: Coronavirus COVID-19 status around the world
Posted by:
treaclefingers
()
Date: December 23, 2021 01:51
Quote
daspyknowsQuote
Nate
Anyone who seriously believes that covid restrictions have not had an extremely damaging affect on peoples mental health which in some cases can definitely lead to increased drug use heavy drinking and even suicide is delusional.
Nate
So you are drinking more, taking drugs and are suicidal?
I'm drinking more...but not sure if that is due to COVID restrictions. Drinking at home more, so saving money.
Re: Coronavirus COVID-19 status around the world
Posted by:
terraplane
()
Date: December 23, 2021 03:49
Qld Covid cases nearly double, chief health officer says ‘spreading the virus is necessary’
Queensland has reported a dramatic surge in daily Covid numbers, with new infections nearly doubling to a record 369 on Thursday.
But far from panicking over the rise, chief health officer Dr John Gerrard says the spread is “essential” and “necessary” in order for the pandemic to evolve into an endemic phase.
“We all have to have immunity, you will all have to develop immunity and there’s two ways you can do that: by being vaccinated or getting infected,” Dr Gerrard said.
Yahoo News
Queensland has reported a dramatic surge in daily Covid numbers, with new infections nearly doubling to a record 369 on Thursday.
But far from panicking over the rise, chief health officer Dr John Gerrard says the spread is “essential” and “necessary” in order for the pandemic to evolve into an endemic phase.
“We all have to have immunity, you will all have to develop immunity and there’s two ways you can do that: by being vaccinated or getting infected,” Dr Gerrard said.
Yahoo News
Re: Coronavirus COVID-19 status around the world
Posted by:
Natlanta
()
Date: December 23, 2021 04:25
Quote
daspyknows
NY Post is like Fox News which are Rupert Murdoch properties. Credibility as a media source is (and has been for 40 years) at a bare minimum on a good day. If you listen to them you are more likely to die from getting vaccinated than from the virus.
Dude every now and then, just for yucks, you should step out of that cartoon you’re living in.
Re: Coronavirus COVID-19 status around the world
Posted by:
daspyknows
()
Date: December 23, 2021 04:48
Quote
NatlantaQuote
daspyknows
NY Post is like Fox News which are Rupert Murdoch properties. Credibility as a media source is (and has been for 40 years) at a bare minimum on a good day. If you listen to them you are more likely to die from getting vaccinated than from the virus.
Dude every now and then, just for yucks, you should step out of that cartoon you’re living in.
I have and I keep finding covidiots, conspiracy theorists and morons. I am sure I spotted you there.
Re: Coronavirus COVID-19 status around the world
Posted by:
GasLightStreet
()
Date: December 23, 2021 05:01
The meme that's been going around for a while is appropriate:
There's no point in arguing with an anti-vaxxer.
Just wait.
There's no point in arguing with an anti-vaxxer.
Just wait.
Re: Coronavirus COVID-19 status around the world
Posted by:
Nate
()
Date: December 23, 2021 07:35
Quote
daspyknowsQuote
Nate
Anyone who seriously believes that covid restrictions have not had an extremely damaging affect on peoples mental health which in some cases can definitely lead to increased drug use heavy drinking and even suicide is delusional.
Nate
So you are drinking more, taking drugs and are suicidal?
I only drink to make other people seem more interesting.
Nate
Re: Coronavirus COVID-19 status around the world
Posted by:
Rockman
()
Date: December 23, 2021 08:01
I was drinking ta drown me sorrows
but but the bastards learnt ta swim ........
ROCKMAN
but but the bastards learnt ta swim ........
ROCKMAN
Re: Coronavirus COVID-19 status around the world
Posted by:
Big Al
()
Date: December 23, 2021 11:39
Quote
Nate
I only drink to make other people seem more interesting.
Nate
Hey! That’s one of my lines!
Re: Coronavirus COVID-19 status around the world
Posted by:
calipachangero
()
Date: December 23, 2021 11:59
Quote
bv
USA current numbers:
1 covid-19 deaths per 1 million with booster dose vaccine
61 covid-19 deaths per 1 million non-vaccinated
Similar numbers are seen in other countries. The majority of people with covid-19 in intensive care are now non-vaccinated.
There is no need to worry about covid-19 as long as you are vaccinated according to recommendations from the health authorities.
Yes, there is a big difference. But have you tried to see just the numbers, without dividing between the good vaxed and the Bad unvaxed?
For a fatality risk that low it seems insane to keep pushing fear, shut down economy, cultural and most impportantly social life!
People need to keep a cool head, indulge in less media (coverage all around is biased, wether left or right, someone needs to pay for those ads) and stop taking the moral highground, especially those residing in developed countries.
Re: Coronavirus COVID-19 status around the world
Posted by:
Irix
()
Date: December 23, 2021 12:30
Posted here to stay on-topic in the other thread - [iorr.org] .
The course of the Covid-waves in Germany from March 2020 until December 2021:
Source: Covid-19 Dashboard by the German federal Robert-Koch-Institute (RKI).
Percentage of adults who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 in the European Economic Area (16-Dec-2021):
Source: [www.Statista.com] .
The course of the Covid-waves in Germany from March 2020 until December 2021:
Source: Covid-19 Dashboard by the German federal Robert-Koch-Institute (RKI).
Percentage of adults who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 in the European Economic Area (16-Dec-2021):
Source: [www.Statista.com] .
Re: Coronavirus COVID-19 status around the world
Posted by:
TheflyingDutchman
()
Date: December 23, 2021 14:31
Quote
bvQuote
TheflyingDutchman
In Holland music stores are closed, liquor stores are open. Can you follow?
However, I am sure people do have enough music to survive the next few weeks and months, also available online I assume.
It's the owners of the physical music stores, selling instruments like guitars, keyboards, amps, guitar repair etc that are in trouble. Of course you can buy things online but it never replaces the quality and info a good seller provides; demonstrating instruments, let people play in an isolated room to judge the sound of an instrument. It's also a cultural thing: mental
food like musical instruments cannot be replaced by cheap cold online return service, which is killing the authentic music store
anyway. Corona might be the last straw.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2021-12-23 14:45 by TheflyingDutchman.
Re: Coronavirus COVID-19 status around the world
Posted by:
SomeTorontoGirl
()
Date: December 23, 2021 14:56
Scientists in Canada took the world’s most detailed look yet at Omicron. Here’s what they saw
Omicron has three to five times more mutations than have been seen in other variants of concern, which seems to inhibit the immune system’s ability to recognize it.
Jeremy Nuttall
By Jeremy NuttallVancouver Bureau
VANCOUVER—Canadian research has pulled back the curtain to offer a glimpse of how the Omicron variant of COVID-19 is managing to infect human cells while evading immunity and vaccine protection.
The extremely detailed look at Omicron has emerged thanks to the University of British Columbia, which announced Wednesday it had completed the world’s first molecular-level analysis of the variant.
The analysis was conducted with cryo-electron microscopy, which uses beams of electrons to visualize shapes of tissues. Some such microscopes are up to four metres tall, according to UBC.
The study shows the variant’s spike protein has three to five times more mutations than previous COVID variants.
The Star spoke with Sriram Subramaniam of the department of biochemistry and molecular biology at UBC’s faculty of medicine, one of the researchers behind the project.
This is the first molecular-level analysis of the Omicron variant. What was its purpose?
We’ve seen these pictures of viruses with these things sticking out from the surface called spike proteins. These spike proteins are what the virus uses to get into cells and infect them. Over the course of the last year or so, we’ve been looking at structures of all of the spike proteins in these different variants.
To try to understand better exactly what are the principles by which the virus gets into cells and what do these changes mean, and in particular in the case of Omicron, the important question is: How does it manage to be so transmissible despite having such a large number of mutations? (When a virus mutates the potential for it to become weaker and less transmissible typically exists.)
The number of mutations in the spike protein is more than 37 … this is about three to five times more mutations than we’ve seen in other variants of concern compared to where we began with this virus two years ago.
So when you have such a large number of mutations, the remarkable thing about this particular variant is it still retains about the same level of efficiency at recognizing our cells (as previous variants).
How does this variant get around antibodies?
There are some common patterns in these spike proteins, but when you have such a large number of mutations … the immune system doesn’t recognize it so effectively, so what these mutations do for the virus is effectively lowering the fence, so it’s easier to get in because it’s not being blocked by as many antibodies as it might be in other variants.
It just does not encounter as much resistance as the other variants would have simply because it made all these changes to its surface and the antibodies don’t recognize it. But normally, when you have so many changes you might have thought that maybe those changes would also affect the ability with which it attaches itself to our cells.
It’s still just as good as the Delta variant at attaching itself while at the same time making enough changes to avoid being much less successfully tackled by the immune system in people that have antibodies.
What have we learned from this analysis that we didn’t know before?
A couple of important things. One of the central questions that all of us are trying to understand is what exactly is it that makes the Omicron variant so much more transmissible. We thought that the Delta variant was very transmissible; this one is even more so. So the molecular understanding of the origins of this transmissibility is important.
The second aspect of our work was to get some insight into those that have been, for instance, doubly vaccinated versus those that have recovered … how does that impact the ability to block the virus?
Those kind of insights are important; they’re being done across the world now. I think the more information we have structurally and the more information we have on what strategies the virus has evolved to evade antibodies, all that will help us design better therapeutics as we deal with this variant.
Was there anything that surprised you when you got such a close look at the variant?
The surprise was the fact the interface looks different but still manages to be so effective at binding itself to the cells. We knew it was roughly about the same, as good as Delta, because of the experiments we had done, but its always insightful to zero in at this kind of atomic resolution to see exactly what the interactions are.
From what you’ve seen so far are you more concerned about this variant than previous ones?
I think there’s always reason for concern when we see variants like this, especially here. The rapid spread is of great concern and I think we’ve just seen, literally, in the last couple of weeks that it’s been spreading so quickly I think it’s definitely a source of concern and we just need to do the best we can to limit its spread.
[www.thestar.com]
Omicron has three to five times more mutations than have been seen in other variants of concern, which seems to inhibit the immune system’s ability to recognize it.
Jeremy Nuttall
By Jeremy NuttallVancouver Bureau
VANCOUVER—Canadian research has pulled back the curtain to offer a glimpse of how the Omicron variant of COVID-19 is managing to infect human cells while evading immunity and vaccine protection.
The extremely detailed look at Omicron has emerged thanks to the University of British Columbia, which announced Wednesday it had completed the world’s first molecular-level analysis of the variant.
The analysis was conducted with cryo-electron microscopy, which uses beams of electrons to visualize shapes of tissues. Some such microscopes are up to four metres tall, according to UBC.
The study shows the variant’s spike protein has three to five times more mutations than previous COVID variants.
The Star spoke with Sriram Subramaniam of the department of biochemistry and molecular biology at UBC’s faculty of medicine, one of the researchers behind the project.
This is the first molecular-level analysis of the Omicron variant. What was its purpose?
We’ve seen these pictures of viruses with these things sticking out from the surface called spike proteins. These spike proteins are what the virus uses to get into cells and infect them. Over the course of the last year or so, we’ve been looking at structures of all of the spike proteins in these different variants.
To try to understand better exactly what are the principles by which the virus gets into cells and what do these changes mean, and in particular in the case of Omicron, the important question is: How does it manage to be so transmissible despite having such a large number of mutations? (When a virus mutates the potential for it to become weaker and less transmissible typically exists.)
The number of mutations in the spike protein is more than 37 … this is about three to five times more mutations than we’ve seen in other variants of concern compared to where we began with this virus two years ago.
So when you have such a large number of mutations, the remarkable thing about this particular variant is it still retains about the same level of efficiency at recognizing our cells (as previous variants).
How does this variant get around antibodies?
There are some common patterns in these spike proteins, but when you have such a large number of mutations … the immune system doesn’t recognize it so effectively, so what these mutations do for the virus is effectively lowering the fence, so it’s easier to get in because it’s not being blocked by as many antibodies as it might be in other variants.
It just does not encounter as much resistance as the other variants would have simply because it made all these changes to its surface and the antibodies don’t recognize it. But normally, when you have so many changes you might have thought that maybe those changes would also affect the ability with which it attaches itself to our cells.
It’s still just as good as the Delta variant at attaching itself while at the same time making enough changes to avoid being much less successfully tackled by the immune system in people that have antibodies.
What have we learned from this analysis that we didn’t know before?
A couple of important things. One of the central questions that all of us are trying to understand is what exactly is it that makes the Omicron variant so much more transmissible. We thought that the Delta variant was very transmissible; this one is even more so. So the molecular understanding of the origins of this transmissibility is important.
The second aspect of our work was to get some insight into those that have been, for instance, doubly vaccinated versus those that have recovered … how does that impact the ability to block the virus?
Those kind of insights are important; they’re being done across the world now. I think the more information we have structurally and the more information we have on what strategies the virus has evolved to evade antibodies, all that will help us design better therapeutics as we deal with this variant.
Was there anything that surprised you when you got such a close look at the variant?
The surprise was the fact the interface looks different but still manages to be so effective at binding itself to the cells. We knew it was roughly about the same, as good as Delta, because of the experiments we had done, but its always insightful to zero in at this kind of atomic resolution to see exactly what the interactions are.
From what you’ve seen so far are you more concerned about this variant than previous ones?
I think there’s always reason for concern when we see variants like this, especially here. The rapid spread is of great concern and I think we’ve just seen, literally, in the last couple of weeks that it’s been spreading so quickly I think it’s definitely a source of concern and we just need to do the best we can to limit its spread.
[www.thestar.com]
Re: Coronavirus COVID-19 status around the world
Posted by:
Nate
()
Date: December 23, 2021 22:26
The BBC has an article today saying that people who become infected with omicron are up to 70% less likely to require hospital treatment.
Nate
Nate
Re: Coronavirus COVID-19 status around the world
Posted by:
NICOS
()
Date: December 23, 2021 23:56
Quote
Nate
The BBC has an article today saying that people who become infected with omicron are up to 70% less likely to require hospital treatment.
Nate
That's great news...... I read more and more that omicron looks milder
Re: Coronavirus COVID-19 status around the world
Posted by:
treaclefingers
()
Date: December 24, 2021 02:50
Quote
NICOSQuote
Nate
The BBC has an article today saying that people who become infected with omicron are up to 70% less likely to require hospital treatment.
Nate
That's great news...... I read more and more that omicron looks milder
Great news if that holds.
This Thread has been closed
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