[rkv_2401]

Hey guys, if any of you would like to contribute to science and research on COVID-19's Omicron Variant (and have decent hardware), please check out : https://twitter.com/foldingathome/st...43827423727622

(Even if your hardware doesn't meet the listed requirements to crunch this particular project, Folding@home does folding simulations on the other COVID-19 variants' spike interfaces as well. Please contribute if you can, it costs almost nothing to let your PC fold for 8 hours a day at night - and head on over to TeamBHP's Folding@home thread for more discussions!)

[CarNerd]

I have a query: What is the purpose of Vaccination in those people who were previously infected with earlier variants of Covid and recovered? If they have recovered, doesn't that give immunity against further variants?

[am1m]

Just heard from a colleague that the RWA (association) at his apartment have "advised" residents not to walk around "unnecessarily". And the best part is the rationale- apparently "the majority of cases being reported in that area are still Delta and not Omicron"!

When there are not enough labs to sequence the samples and figure out the variant at a national level itself, wondering how these jokers are making such statements and using that to impose even further stupid restrictions on people!

When will these self-appointed tinpot authority figures stop enforcing their stupidity other people! And when will we stop listening to such unscientific notions in our panic?!

[gtonsing]

Originally Posted by CarNerd

I have a query: What is the purpose of Vaccination in those people who were previously infected with earlier variants of Covid and recovered? If they have recovered, doesn't that give immunity against further variants?

I am not a doctor but having been a victim of this virus before (wave 2) I was told by my doctors to wait for 90 days after testing negative for Corona. By which I am assuming that the immunity is ~90 days after? I am not sure but just telling what was told to me. I am now double vaccinated and waiting for my booster (if ever it comes to that). Whatever the case may be, I think vaccine makes the virus weak and it is a good idea to get it.

[joslicx]

Originally Posted by gtonsing

I am not a doctor but having been a victim of this virus before (wave 2) I was told by my doctors to wait for 90 days after testing negative for Corona. By which I am assuming that the immunity is ~90 days after? I am not sure but just telling what was told to me. I am now double vaccinated and waiting for my booster (if ever it comes to that). Whatever the case may be, I think vaccine makes the virus weak and it is a good idea to get it.

Traditionally vaccines were just the virus in a moderate form that would help your body develop antibodies against it, isint it? So technically speaking, the actual infection should work at least as good (if not better) than an actual vaccination. Vaccine is also trying to do the same thing (and it's efficacy is not 100%) so not guaranteed to work actually.

[motorworks]

Originally Posted by am1m

Just heard from a colleague that the RWA (association) at his apartment have "advised" residents not to walk around "unnecessarily". And the best part is the rationale- apparently "the majority of cases being reported in that area are still Delta and not Omicron"!

When there are not enough labs to sequence the samples and figure out the variant at a national level itself, wondering how these jokers are making such statements and using that to impose even further stupid restrictions on people!

When will these self-appointed tinpot authority figures stop enforcing their stupidity other people! And when will we stop listening to such unscientific notions in our panic?!

Each own making up their own rules! Just earlier this Saturday and Sunday, Tamilnadu imposed a Lockdown, Karnataka on the other hand removed the weekend curfew in Bangalore. And my apartment society in Bangalore imposed additional restrictions during the same period due to increasing cases ( we have about 80 cases amongst a population of 4000 ).

And Bangalore continues to report higher cases with each day! Everyday there is a new logic for new rules. When there is some media uproar or some guidelines from the centre, the state governments come up with some new rules. At the same time, when they get pressure from malls and restaurants, they remove the weekend curfew.

Sure, hospitalisation is lower this time around, so I can understand certain changes, but I feel like it’s very random. For example, my apartment society was sealed last time around when we crossed 100 active cases. Come on, my apartment society has 1600 flats, with a population of more than 4000, and spread across 30+ acres. How can they just seal the society for 100 cases? Absolute chaos!

[warrioraks]

Originally Posted by am1m

When will these self-appointed tinpot authority figures stop enforcing their stupidity other people! And when will we stop listening to such unscientific notions in our panic?!

I guess never. What I have learnt over last 2 years is that in times like these, there is a strong urge across people in power 'to do something'. Just to show that 'something is being done'.
Ironically, this is accompanied with a desire to take path of least resistance. Hence science goes for a toss, soft targets are identified and we are left on the wrong end of night curfews, ingenious RWA rules and stupid vigilantism.

PS: I know yours was a rhetorical question. But it just touched a raw nerve.

[comfortablynumb]

Originally Posted by warrioraks

What I have learnt over last 2 years is that in times like these, there is a strong urge across people in power 'to do something'. Just to show that 'something is being done'...

Well said. The reason for this is 2 fold.

1. The politicians' logic, which goes like this.
- We must do something.
- This is something.
- Therefore, we must do this.

2. The bureaucrats' professional ethos, which goes like this.



Taken together, they are a match made in heaven, and leads to the situation which we repeatedly find ourselves in.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by warrioraks

... ... ... there is a strong urge across people in power 'to do something'. ...

And if they do nothing? How do we the public react then?

It is a true damned if you do, damned if you don't situation. Can't win.

I'm talking international. Every country, no country. Every political viewpoint, no political viewpoint. Nobody, anywhere, was elected on the basis of whether or not they could handle a first-in-a-century pandemic. Sure, one could take some specific and argue their policies and effect on public health generally, but that is not the point.

So, bringing it home: given the first and second waves in India, what leader would dare to look at the situation and say this Omicron doesn't look so scary, we can relax a bit.

I'm not talking about any state, any party, any leader. Just very glad that I'm not one of the people who has to take those decisions!

... Which, of course, does not mean that I'm not going to disagree or criticize.

[warrioraks]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

And if they do nothing? How do we the public react then?

It is a true damned if you do, damned if you don't situation. Can't win.

'Doing something' is not an effective way to address the gap created by 'doing nothing'. Actions for the heck of 'doing something' lead to theatrics and not results as we have repeatedly seen over last two years.

So, bringing it home: given the first and second waves in India, what leader would dare to look at the situation and say this Omicron doesn't look so scary, we can relax a bit.

No one expects the authorities to relax. They need to go overboard in finding solutions. Decisions like night curfews, closing down parks at 5 pm, etc don't seem to be those solutions. These are knee jerk reactions where the leaders are in fact taking a relaxed approach under the garb of doing something. The point being, actions are being taken for the heck of it. I would rather have them do nothing and spare us the inconveniences.

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

Just very glad that I'm not one of the people who has to take those decisions!

I made the same statement to someone during the first wave. Still feel the same, so we agree. Can empathize with these people.
But then it sometimes becomes hard to continue empathizing. Especially in the face of stupid decision making which takes away your liberties based on their whims.

[am1m]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

And if they do nothing? How do we the public react then?

Wouldn't it have been great if we did what made sense medically and scientifically, backed by data. The vaccines work. And there's no shortage now. So why not open out booster doses out to everyone like several countries did a long time ago. We've just opened them out to front-line workers and senior citizens only this month.

Instead of that, what we get are measures that basically do nothing really, like weekend curfews. And even those are lifted based on who is lobbying against them, not based on science.

And I'm not talking about just the government, I mean this for all of us. Let's follow the science, not what conveniently targets other people, but doesn't really work.

Like wearing a mask virtuously while walking alone in the open and shaming people who don't wear masks while exercising alone. And then taking our masks off indoors with a crowd. Like harassing our maids and watchmen in apartment complexes, making them take multiple tests, forcing them to follow some convoluted 'covid-protocol' and then happily mingling with extended family members during festivals. (And then blaming the maids when we test positive.) Like an unfortunate group of out-of-state paramedical students at a college I know of. They were first stranded in the hostel with limited supplies when lockdown was announced. Then finally made it back home. Then they had to get tests before returning. Were crammed in a couple of rooms to be "in quarantine" when they returned. And then stuck again when the latest restrictions were announced and colleges were shut again! All because they were from "out of state", while all around them, local crowds went on as usual.

Originally Posted by m8002?

Simply because they can!! You have a soft target...

That's the correct word! There has also been a pandemic of going after the soft targets, the people who can't lobby to have restrictions lifted for them. Or the people we can order around. And people like us, safe at home go on counting the cases and panic to justify unscientific half-measures with "something is better that nothing" and "it's for our safety".

[m8002?]

Originally Posted by motorworks

Come on, my apartment society has 1600 flats, with a population of more than 4000, and spread across 30+ acres. How can they just seal the society for 100 cases? Absolute chaos!

Simply because they can!! You have a soft target and can show that you are taking some action. Will the same BBMP seal a 30 acre layout with 1000 of houses when 100 people test positive? My 300 apartment complex has 20+(and growing) cases and the MC is scared when some BBMP guy will walk in and seal the gates.

In spite of charging all the taxes and people who pay them, the apartments in Bangalore always get a raw deal.

[PearlJam]

Originally Posted by am1m

Wouldn't it have been great if we did what made sense medically and scientifically, backed by data. The vaccines work. And there's no shortage now. So why not open out booster doses out to everyone like several countries did a long time ago. We've just opened them out to front-line workers and senior citizens only this month.

Because, there is a lot of thought and skepticism now about benefits of booster doses for all.

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...w/89143518.cms
("Rethinking has to be done for boosters. The policy… has to be thought through. Boosters have not helped the cases in any country that has administered the third dose. Besides, we will not blindly follow what other countries have done. We have to look at our local epidemiology and science, and our decisions have to be based on that assessment," the official said.)

Israel is already into the 4th shot now, but some scientists warn that too many shots might actually harm the body’s ability to fight the Covid-19 virus:
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/23/w...-4th-dose.html

While I agree with you about most of the illogical restrictions that governments impose, the curfews, and the shaming, it's still not an easy decision for the government in some other areas where even expert opinions differ, and expert opinion keeps changing too.

[am1m]

Originally Posted by PearlJam

"Boosters have not helped the cases in any country that has administered the third dose."

Most of what I've read seems to prove that the boosters have helped reduce severity of cases. It was never meant to reduce the actual cases. While further research is certainly welcome and necessary, personally, I think that is just the government trying to justify why they took this long to start administering boosters.

[WindRide]

ICU admissions are very low. Why is the govt hyping up the the positive cases count and creating unnecessary panic? I would say omicron should be allowed to wash through the public, infect and provide natural immunity to all and allow the pandemic turn endemic.

Or is this another one of those unanswerable questions of our times?