Thread by @sailorrooscout

Very encouraging news out of Scotland. A study from the University of Edinburgh using early national data suggests that Omicron is associated with a two-thirds REDUCTION in the risk of COVID-19 hospitalization when compared to Delta.

Let’s talk about that and more! 🧵

It is IMPORTANT to note severity of disease in humans is NOT determined only by virus replication but also by the host immune response to the infection. Make sure you are PROTECTED. Regarding sources for the information above:
•research.ed.ac.uk/en/publication…
•imperial.ac.uk/mrc-global-inf…

Early data from Scotland indicates that there is a two-thirds REDUCTION in hospitalization of double vaccinated young adults, compared with the Delta variant. In addition, data from England signals that Omicron infection is associated with a 15 to 20% REDUCED risk in requiring

any hospital treatment, compared with Delta. Preliminary results from Scotland, drawn from linked vaccination and hospitalization data for the entire Scottish population, have shown a 56% REDUCTION in hospitalization in people aged 20 to 50 years with Omicron infection, compared

with what would be expected with the Delta variant. Given the limitations of the data, the true value lies somewhere between 30% to 75% for this age group. Across all ages, the data suggests that Omicron is associated with a two-thirds reduction in the risk of COVID-19

hospitalization when compared to Delta. However, there have been very few cases of Omicron recorded in older populations, which skews the results. With age being a risk factor for hospitalization for prior variants including Delta, it is not clear from this study if the lower

hospitalization rates in older people are due to them being highly boosted with a third vaccine dose or if the variant causes milder disease. The study out of Scotland concludes booster doses offer SUBSTANTIAL additional protection against the risk of symptomatic COVID-19 for

Omicron AND ending up in the hospital with Omicron. So make sure YOU ARE PROTECTED. While limited, the data provide a first sign that Omicron may not be as virulent as the Delta strain. These datasets will be followed up over the coming weeks and will provide a clearer picture of

true risks of severe disease as time goes but thus far, they fall in line with data out of South Africa. In a second study, researchers at Imperial College London have analyzed data in England that included 56,000 cases of Omicron and 269,000 cases of Delta. Their data suggests

https://twitter.com/sailorrooscout/status/1473651821457690625

that individuals infected with Omicron are 15 to 20% LESS likely to attend hospital overall, and 40 to 45% LESS likely to be hospitalized for a night or more, compared with Delta cases. The researchers also analyzed the impact of prior infection and found that those infected with

Omicron after a previous infection were 50 to 60% LESS likely to be hospitalized, compared with people with NO previous documented infection. You can read more here: politico.eu/article/omicro…

Summary:
•Difficult to disentangle if less severity is due to prior IMMUNITY (vaccine or natural infection) OR intrinsic virulence of Omicron, BUT Omicron IS causing milder illness
•Vaccine immune escape (in regards to nAbs ONLY), protection against SEVERE infection sustained

•Other areas may have lower seroprevalence and lower vaccination rates
•GET PROTECTED. GET BOOSTED.
•Boosters give strong protection against BOTH symptomatic infection AND severe illness from Omicron
•Don’t walk around IMMUNE NAIVE!

I wanted to add this onto this thread. Regarding VACCINES. Three doses of AstraZeneca ARE effective against Omicron AND 2 doses of Sinovac plus a booster of Pfizer ARE effective against Omicron as well!
•reuters.com/business/healt…
•biorxiv.org/content/10.110…
•med.hku.hk/en/news/press/…