Thread by @sailorrooscout

There is NO evidence to suggest that Omicrom will set us back to square one.

We have tests that will detect this.
We have therapies.
We have vaccines.

This is NOT March 2020.

Get vaccinated. Get the world vaccinated. Get boosted. It not only restores, it exceeds.

*Omicron. I HATE autocorrect. It’s early. Please excuse me.

We are lucky in the sense that it is relatively easy to detect Omicron. It can be detected with a PCR assay, without the need for extensive genome sequencing. This IS a good thing.

"Like Schoub, Dr. Sharon Alroy-Preis, the [Israeli] Health Ministry’s head of public services, noted that vaccinated individuals who have contracted the new variant appear to generally have a mild illness only." timesofisrael.com/s-african-expe…

Preliminary reports out of South Africa, Israel, Italy, and Hong Kong are consistent in regards to severity of symptoms in vaccinated individuals and are encouraging. While it is obvious we need more data, the take away message stays the same: GET VACCINATED. Links below.

•Hong Kong: bnnbloomberg.ca/hong-kong-says…
•Italy: open.online/2021/11/28/cov…
•South Africa & Israel: haaretz.com/israel-news/to…

“Dr. Wassila Jassat from the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) said that their surveillance has revealed that unvaccinated patients fared worse than vaccinated ones, adding that 87% of all admissions in Tshwane are unvaccinated patients.”news24.com/news24/southaf…

13 cases of the Omicron variant in Portugal- Lisbon Soccer Team. Most of the players are vaccinated, and they are either ASYMPTOMATIC or have MILD symptoms. Remember, Portugal has an 87% vaccination rate! reuters.com/business/healt…

I’d like to add onto Portugal that older staff (NOT just younger players) have been infected as well. “Two or three players and two or three staff have symptoms, but nothing too serious, the rest are asymptomatic.” This is why vaccination is important. independent.co.uk/news/world/eur…

I feel it is necessary to add onto this thread as there is misinterpretation of data from some epidemiologists regarding the situation in South Africa, specifically Gauteng circulating. May I refer you to this thread to get a better idea of the situation. Thank you @tomtom_m.

https://twitter.com/tomtom_m/status/1465303487114321929

Dr. Unven Pillay on Omicron in Gauteng: “We've seen a sharp increase in cases for the past 10 days. So far they have mostly been very mild cases, with patients having flu-like symptoms: dry coughs, fever, night sweats, a lot of body pains.” He also noted that milder cases

occurred in those who were vaccinated against the initial virus. However, Pillay also warned that the observations could change as more becomes known about the strain. That includes effects in older people, who could develop more severe symptoms than the ones experienced by those

in their 20s and 30s. That demographic makes up the majority of current cases in South Africa. "Vaccinated people tend to do much better. We have not seen a vast increase in hospitalizations, but this is still early days.” newsweek.com/most-omicron-c…

Vaccines work. Two doctors (ages 50 & 70) in Israel who have been boosted tested positive for Omicron. They are both resting at home with only very mild symptoms. Still EARLY as we wait for data, but if anything, once again, please get VACCINATED. cnn.com/world/live-new…