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Topic subject01/10/2022 - Even vaccinated people are pushing "herd immunity" now
Topic URLhttp://board.okayplayer.com/okp.php?az=show_topic&forum=4&topic_id=13448755&mesg_id=13451412
13451412, 01/10/2022 - Even vaccinated people are pushing "herd immunity" now
Posted by handle, Mon Jan-10-22 11:58 AM
Social media is abuss about how even vaccinated - AND LIBERAL!!!! are thinking "We'll all get it so just get it over with!!"

But Germany has a GREAT response to it:

Germany needs jabs, not omicron's 'dirty vaccination' — health minister
https://www.dw.com/en/germany-needs-jabs-not-omicrons-dirty-vaccination-health-minister/a-60366926

"We still need a vaccine mandate. Otherwise, omicron is a dirty vaccination through the backdoor. Counting on everyone getting infected sooner or later and becoming immune ... would cause big problems," he said.

The omicron version of the virus has so far appeared to be milder than previous variants. But the health minister warned that "many people would become seriously ill with often permanent damage," if omicron was left unchecked.

"For our children it would be an absolutely irresponsible experiment," he said in a tweet earlier this week.

Fear of future variants
The health minister also said it was "naive" to think that "omicron is the end of the pandemic."

"Mandatory vaccination is also important for the future variants that may still develop," he told Welt. "Omicron infection does not necessarily make one immune to the next viral variant."

Lauterbach also warned of the possibility that a new, more dangerous variant could start spreading.

"Imagine for a second that the omicron variant were significantly more deadly. Then we would be in existential danger now," Lauterbach said. "No one can guarantee that a variant will not develop soon that is much more dangerous."

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Experts say Omicron may bring a ‘level of herd immunity’—but not for long and likely at a terrible cost

https://fortune.com/2022/01/05/experts-omicron-herd-immunity-not-long-terrible-cost/

What the health community refers to as “herd immunity” generally occurs when a large portion of the population is immune, and the virus or bacteria can't find a host within which it can reproduce. Herd immunity can be achieved by having enough people contract an infection and then build up a natural immunity, or with strong vaccination coverage. Approximately 94% of people must be immune in order to successfully halt transmission, according to the Mayo Clinic.

But the problem with herd immunity, and particularly with the COVID-19 virus, is that it is likely time sensitive, Ostrosky says. “We always start seeing declining antibodies a few months out,” he says. Not only is the immunity conferred time-limited, it may also not protect against other mutations of the coronavirus. “An infection with this particular variant doesn't guarantee protection against future variants,” Ostrosky says.

... There is also a very real downside to natural herd immunity, which is that a lot of people are going to get infected and, just by sheer numbers, could end up in the hospital and dying, Ostrosky says. “That's why we've never sort of relied on herd immunity as a strategy to get out of the pandemic. There's a cost to it,” he says.

“People think, ‘Oh, Omicron, it’s no big deal.’ It is a big deal. If you’re not vaccinated, Omicron is a big deal for you,” Poland says.

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Pfizer CEO says omicron vaccine will be ready in March
https://www.cnbc.com/2022/01/10/covid-vaccine-pfizer-ceo-says-omicron-vaccine-will-be-ready-in-march.html

Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla on Monday said a vaccine that targets the omicron variant of Covid will be ready in March, and the company’s already begun manufacturing the doses.

“This vaccine will be ready in March,” Bourla told CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” “We already starting manufacturing some of these quantities at risk.”

Bourla said the vaccine will also target the other variants that are circulating. He said it is still not clear whether or not an omicron vaccine is needed or how it would be used, but Pfizer will have some doses ready since some countries want it ready as soon as possible.

“The hope is that we will achieve something that will have way, way better protection particularly against infections, because the protection against the hospitalizations and the severe disease — it is reasonable right now, with the current vaccines as long as you are having let’s say the third dose,” Bourla said.