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New coronavirus variant and the latest episode of Project Fear
November 30, 2021 in history | Tags: coronavirus, England, fear, freedom, freedom of movement, Gibraltar, Ireland, Malta, Northern Ireland, Scotland, socialism, South Africa, UK, United States, vaccine, vaccine passport, Wales | 2 comments
Please, someone, stop Project Fear.
Last week, a new coronavirus variant, B.1.1.529 — initially named Nu and now changed for whatever reason to Omicron — hit the headlines, having been discovered in South Africa.
How worried should we be? I’ve been ignoring the news hysteria pumped out by Britain’s main channels and have been focusing on the views of scientists who have offered good information in the past.
A senior scientist in vaccine research and development advises ignoring the media hysteria:
If there is one thing I am going to tell you today it is to IGNORE the media and the clickbait headlines on this new variant. There is NO plausible scenario this will take us back to square one and there is a lot of misinformation currently circulating. Working on a thread now.
— Chise 🧬🧫🦠💉🔜 MFF (@sailorrooscout) November 26, 2021
The scientist notes that full vaccination rates in South Africa are very low:
Vaccine equity is vital. Variants pop up out of low vaccinated areas. Immune evasion may not be needed to spread and fitness could EASILY differ in higher-vaccinated countries, and those dominated by Delta. I also recommend reading this thread here: https://t.co/6NoUTVXbeY pic.twitter.com/JQ8BpbIFeJ
— Chise 🧬🧫🦠💉🔜 MFF (@sailorrooscout) November 26, 2021
There is no need to panic, especially before Christmas. Note that the chairwoman of the South African Medical Association says the symptoms are ‘extremely mild’:
Angelique Coetzee, chairperson of the South African Medical Association: “It’s all speculation at this stage. It may be it’s highly transmissible but so far the cases we are seeing are EXTREMELY MILD.” https://t.co/UgrarGcfbE
— Chise 🧬🧫🦠💉🔜 MFF (@sailorrooscout) November 26, 2021
We cannot extrapolate whether ‘cases’ will spike in countries where most of the population is fully ‘vaccinated’. According to another scientist who tracks viruses, it could be that the variant will not take hold quite as easily or with devastating effect:
The additional information today helps us: we can track this variant with PCR tests, & we know how to look for it. We can step up monitoring, & we should.
However, what fitness advantage(s) it may have are still unclear, esp outside of initial spread. More data needed.
— Dr Emma Hodcroft (@firefoxx66) November 25, 2021
Sir John Bell, an adviser to the UK government, agrees that the symptoms are like that of a cold. Our T-cells can probably deal with it:
This should be the headlines ..
SIR JOHN BELL – SENIOR GOVERNMENT ADVISOR pic.twitter.com/DlSwIC6Xf2— Adam Brooks (@EssexPR) November 26, 2021
Read further on for what this means for travel and our civil liberties.
First, here is confirmation that Nu was renamed Omicron in the Greek alphabet:
Yes, I am aware they have changed it to Omicron from Nu. This thread was written before that announcement. Just know this entire thread is in regards to Omicron (B.1.1.529).
— Chise 🧬🧫🦠💉🔜 MFF (@sailorrooscout) November 27, 2021
It seems that a Greek letter — Xi, coincidentally — was skipped:
So as not to upset a certain other Xi?
— Tony Barnes (@tonyb20) November 27, 2021
Omicron is under the microscope not because of overflowing hospitals but rather genomic monitoring by clinicians:
Extremely good point https://t.co/sdYB0FPR0l
— Alistair Haimes (@AlistairHaimes) November 26, 2021
As with the other variants, Delta included, Omicron would have been discovered months before now:
For that genetic diversity to have accumulated, B.1.1.529 must have been in circulation for at least 2-3 months (i.e. SARS-CoV-2 lineages 'click' at ~2 mutations/month). As such, a modelling assumption that B.1.1.529 was at ~0% prevalence 2-3 weeks ago is likely incorrect.
2/— Prof Francois Balloux (@BallouxFrancois) November 26, 2021
In fact, despite what the WHO says, the World Economic Forum (WEF) reported on it back in July:
WEF, 12 July 2021:
“Scientists in South Africa have discovered a small number of cases of a new COVID variant. They’re working to understand its implications/told a news conference that it had a ‘very unusual constellation’ of mutations.”
They’re literally recycling panic news
— Stacey Rudin (@stacey_rudin) November 27, 2021
WHO, November 2021: “The first known confirmed B.1.1.529 infection was from a specimen collected on 9 November 2021.”
WEF, July 2021: “Scientists in South Africa have discovered a small number of cases of a new COVID variant…named B.1.1.529.” https://t.co/KcFJ6GSyq5
— Stacey Rudin (@stacey_rudin) November 27, 2021
Now for the bit on travel and our civil liberties.
As expected, travel restrictions to and from six African countries are now in place in Britain …
Travel to and from South Africa and five other southern African countries was banned from noon on Friday. Malawi and Mozambique are expected to be added to Britain’s travel red list imminently and there is acceptance in Whitehall that further bans are likely while scientists attempt to assess whether Omicron evades vaccines or spreads faster.
Chris Whitty, the chief medical officer for England, described travel bans as “precautionary” and said it might be possible to lift them once the variant had been better assessed.
Travel industry bosses warned that the introduction of the red list was a “hammer blow to consumer confidence” in before the peak winter sun window.
… and in the United States. It’s okay when the Democrats do it, but not when Trump did it in 2020:
No doubt politicians will attempt to restrict our movements but, as this pathologist explains, human activity has little to do with viral transmission, which appears to be caused by seasonal activity:
Human behaviour does not affect transmission of airborne respiratory viruses. Viral surges are caused by a poorly understood seasonal trigger.
SARS-CoV-2 is behaving like influenza not like measles.https://t.co/lT7cGE8533
— Dr Clare Craig (@ClareCraigPath) November 27, 2021
Keep that in mind if there is a push for England to implement Plan B for the winter months. Plan B includes vaccine passports, something we have been able to evade, unlike Scotland and Wales (both socialist-governed nations):
If the new variant proves not to be resistant to vaccines, a move to Plan B vaccine passports would continue to have zero justification.
If the new variant proves to be resistant to vaccines, a move to Plan B vaccine passports would have even less justification.
— David Paton (@cricketwyvern) November 26, 2021
On that subject, here is a coronavirus passport poster from Ireland. The Irish government now refers to freedom as ‘privileges’:
'privileges' https://t.co/5od5wOvF6Z
— Dr Clare Craig (@ClareCraigPath) November 27, 2021
Journalist Julia Samuel reminds us of what the situation looked like a year ago. Remember when the vaccine rollout was nearly ready and we were told we would get our freedom back? One year on, and the Government is telling us that we will now need boosters. Who thought then that we would have vaccine passports? Northern Ireland’s Assembly will be voting this week on whether to have them and where:
Julia Samuel says that the Government now considers freedom to be on loan and can be rescinded whenever our notional leaders see fit:
Brilliant from Juliet Samuel. pic.twitter.com/qUOBHG8ecb
— DF🦞🙂 (@Derinda123) November 27, 2021
I deeply deplore this state of affairs but am not surprised by it.
Meanwhile, vaccine efficacy has raised a few questions. Last week on RMC (French talk radio), the mid-morning show had a heated discussion as to whether the vaccines were working.
Gibraltar has had huge problems with new cases, yet 100% of its population is fully vaccinated.
On November 17, The Express reported that The Rock has cancelled Christmas:
The Rock has urged people to “limit mixing as much as possible”, in new guidance published last Friday. The Gibraltar government has also cancelled all functions across departments, including Christmas parties, in a bid to prevent the spread of the virus.
Ministers have not yet ordered the public and businesses to follow suit, but the decision had sparked anger in the hospitality sector …
Gibraltar, which has a population of around 33,000, also boasts an impressive rate of vaccination.
Gibraltar has administered 94,019 vaccine doses – meaning most of its citizens have received three jabs …
The Government of Gibraltar has nevertheless reiterated masks should be worn in shops, hospitals and public transport.
People are also encouraged to meet in outdoor spaces, where possible, despite winter drawing in.
At that point, two people were hospitalised, with one in intensive care.
Malta has the same problem in case rises. Unlike Gibraltar, many of these people are ending up in hospital:
If vaccines reduced infections, how come the steepest rise in infections in Malta happened after 70% were vaccinated? pic.twitter.com/XEO8oXHMzJ
— Dr Clare Craig (@ClareCraigPath) November 27, 2021
On the other hand, a study from Northwestern University near Chicago has reported that the booster has dramatically increased antibody levels:
A study out of Northwestern University shows post-booster antibody levels not only exceeded antibody levels documented after natural infection with COVID-19, but after two doses of vaccine, AND levels after both natural infection AND vaccination as well.
Let’s talk about that!🧵
— Chise 🧬🧫🦠💉🔜 MFF (@sailorrooscout) November 22, 2021
In a nutshell:
So what did they find? Researchers documented large antibody responses after the administration of the booster, with antibody levels that EXCEEDED levels documented after natural infection with COVID- 19, after two doses of vaccine, or after both natural infection AND vaccination pic.twitter.com/6eEknii9ij
— Chise 🧬🧫🦠💉🔜 MFF (@sailorrooscout) November 22, 2021
Data from England appear to corroborate the same findings, with lower hospital admission rates for older people:
The England hospital admissions data reflect the booster effect in older people.
In the past week, fewer than half (48%) of adults hospitalised for covid were over 65; in the three weeks before that it was 52%, 53% and 56%.
Story @theipaper: https://t.co/QUpT1VG3Hi
— Hugo Gye (@HugoGye) November 26, 2021
The peer-reviewed study appeared in The Lancet (yes, I know):
Real-world data out of England on booster effectiveness shows OVER 90% vaccine effectiveness against symptomatic infection when comparing boosted vaccinated individuals to unvaccinated individuals. NOTE: these results were in HIGH-RISK groups. https://t.co/15sWlD9pWi pic.twitter.com/quMQXwdoEx
— Chise 🧬🧫🦠💉🔜 MFF (@sailorrooscout) November 22, 2021
This is the effect of booster shots:
If you’re wondering what difference a booster makes. pic.twitter.com/858ZpST7Kh
— Chise 🧬🧫🦠💉🔜 MFF (@sailorrooscout) November 21, 2021
The only question now is how long the 93% and 94% efficacy lasts. The public will soon tire of getting covid booster shots every six to eight months, that is for certain.
In the meantime, we must continue to keep a gimlet eye on our governments, especially where civil liberties and our God-given freedoms are concerned.
I will cover England’s restrictions in a separate post.