Britain says Omicron accounts for 40% of London infections

[speak easy]

Source: Reuters

LONDON, Dec 13 (Reuters) - Britain said on Monday that the Omicron variant of coronavirus was spreading at a "phenomenal rate" and accounted for about 40% of all infections in London so people should get an additional dose of the vaccine because double-jabbed people are vulnerable.

Since the first cases of the Omicron variant were detected on Nov. 27 in the United Kingdom, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has imposed tougher restrictions and told the nation on Sunday that a "tidal wave" of Omicron was about to hit. read more

Britain says that unless action is taken there could be a million people infected with Omicron, which scientists say can still infect people who are double-vaccinated, by the end of the month.

"What we now know about Omicron is that... it's spreading at a phenomenal rate, something that we've never seen before, it's doubling every two to three days in infections," Health Secretary Sajid Javid told Sky News.

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/britain-says-omicron-spreading-phenomenal-rate-2021-12-13/

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A majority of the population in Britain were vaccinated with AstraZeneca which provides no protection against infections by Omicron, but a Pfizer booster on top can deliver 70-75% protection.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10142839402

[Tomconroy]

1. To be accurate these articles need to distinguish between a

variant that can evade antigen protection and one that can evade t cell response, which Omicron does not.

Link to tweet

?s=20

[obamanut2012]

2. Could you explain this better, please?

I THINK I get it, but am not sure.

[GPV]

3. So having J&J followed by Pfizer means I'm ok?

[BumRushDaShow]

5. The mix/match trials have found that Janssen (J&J)

and other non-mRNA vaccines had a big boost when given a mRNA vaccine as a 2nd shot or 3rd shot. I expect some of it is because the more "traditional" type vaccine like Janssen's and AstraZeneca's had about a 70% efficacy after a single dose.

In the case of AstraZeneca, they never "sold it" as a simple "single dose" solution like Janssen (J&J) did - they always had it as a 2-dose series. With Janssen as a 2-dose (where that is now recommended when doing a "booster" ), then the efficacy naturally increases, although they found that doing mixed vaccine for that 2nd dose gave a better response when using a mRNA one for that additional dose, instead of another dose of the same brand initial dose.

[speak easy]

4. Th T-cell response happens AFTER infection

So you are still infectious, spreading the virus.

[Tomconroy]

6. The T and B cell response, as I understand it, is what protects you

from serious illness and death. So even without the booster you are well protected.
However, the science seems pretty clear that the booster will once again raise the level of antigen response to protect you from most infections.
Dr. Jha from Brown University has a good twitter feed about this. His bottom line is you don't want to be unvaccinated because we don't know yet if omicron gives you mild disease.

[speak easy]

8. "protects you View profile from serious illness and death"

That is exactly right.

It is easy to put serum antibodies, and the virus in a dish but what you get an indication of how well the vaccines will hinder infection/transmission, not how sick people will get. There is not data on Omicron yet, but no reason (so far) to believe the results will be worse than Delta for fully vaccinated people.

[SergeStorms]

7. I'm a Premier League Football fan....

and it amazes me when the cameras pan over the crowds (who are packed into the stadiums like sardines in a tin) and you'd be hard pressed to find anyone wearing a mask.

Perhaps they check everyone's vaccination card upon entry, but with omicron spreading like wildfire - even among the vaccinated - these matches have to be looked at as super spreader events.

[speak easy]

9. The had their 'freedom day'

and scrapped most of the protections. Lucky football fans don't shout or sing

Yes they have their vaccine cards, but a double dose of their most common vaccine - AstraZeneca - does not protect against Omicron infections at all ( but probably does well preventing serious illness / hospitalization - the T-cell response)

[SergeStorms]

10. It makes you wonder....

how long they'll continue this charade of normalism? No one wants to return to the days of empty stadiums, but something will have to be done if COVID numbers continue to increase.

[Raftergirl]

11. r0 for Omicron is 4.

It will likely be the dominant variant in UK by late next week and here a few weeks after.