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Kai Kupferschmidt Profile picture
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Jan 18 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
After spending many weeks reporting on #omicron, I spent the first two weeks of 2022 having omicron.
It inevitably feels like a defeat of sorts after two years of avoiding the virus. But I’ve studied infectious diseases long enough to know that’s not helpful - or even the point.
Like many vaccinated and boostered people, I experienced a mild infection.
Of course I wonder what the experience would have been like with no prior immunity at all.
I’m privileged. I got three doses. One third of the world population has gotten zero doses so far.
Delivery of vaccines to low- and middle-income countries has been picking up and COVAX recently delivered its one billionth dose.
That’s good news.
But the way we have handled global access to vaccines overall has been bad.

So overall my feelings have been the mixed bag I tried to describe in my look back at the end of 2021: Amazed and grateful that we have these powerful tools available to us, but frustrated and somewhat ashamed at how we have used them globally.

science.org/content/articl…
I have recovered and I’m happy to go back to reporting on omicron.

I hope that’s it. But as someone who is HIV-positive I have a lot of respect for the power of viruses to cause long-term troubles and we should all have some humility in the face of such a new virus.

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More from @kakape

Kai Kupferschmidt Profile picture
Jan 12
"Last week, more than 15 million new cases of COVID-19 were reported to @WHO from around the world, by far the most cases reported in a single week. And we know this is an underestimate”, says @DrTedros.
“This huge spike in infections is being driven by the Omicron variant."
@WHO @DrTedros "However, the number of weekly reported deaths has remained stable since October last year, at an average of 48,000 deaths a week”, says @DrTedros.
“While the number of patients being hospitalized is increasing, in most countries, it's not at the level seen in previous waves."
@WHO @DrTedros "This is possibly due to the reduced severity of Omicron as well as widespread immunity from vaccination or previous infection”, says @DrTedros.
BUT: "while Omicron causes less severe disease than Delta, it remains a dangerous virus, particularly for those who are unvaccinated."
Read 20 tweets
Kai Kupferschmidt Profile picture
Jan 6
"Last week, the highest number of #COVID19 cases were reported so far in the pandemic - and we know for certain that this is an underestimate”, says @DrTedros in WHO presser.
While Omicron appears less severe than delta, that does not make it “mild”, he says.
@DrTedros "Just like previous variants Omicron is hospitalizing people and it's killing people”, says @drtedros.
"In fact, the tsunami of cases is so huge and quick that it is overwhelming health systems around the world. Hospitals are becoming overcrowded and understaffed."
@DrTedros “First-generation vaccines may not stop all infections and transmission, but they remain highly effective in reducing hospitalization and death from this virus”, says @drtedros.
That is why other measures are needed too, he says.
Read 8 tweets
Kai Kupferschmidt Profile picture
Dec 30, 2021
One of the complexities in talking about #omicron is that we are constantly talking about the variant’s properties on two levels:
in a naive population and in an immune population (in reality many populations with different levels of immunity)
That matters.
Take transmissibility:
It’s been clear from watching #omicron that it spreads faster than delta.
But from the beginning the question has been: Is that because it can infect people delta can’t? Or is it inherently more transmissible?
If you look at the UK’s risk assessment of #omicron for instance, you can see that that question is still not settled:
"there is no clear epidemiological demonstration of transmissibility as distinct from other contributors to growth advantage”
assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/upl…
Read 12 tweets
Kai Kupferschmidt Profile picture
Dec 29, 2021
Three things were always needed to beat #SARSCoV2: science, solutions and solidarity, says @DrTedros at @WHO presser.
"Science to both understand the pathogen and find solutions to beating it and solidarity to share and deliver those tools wisely and equitably."
@DrTedros @WHO “While science delivered, politics too often triumphed over solidarity”, says @drtedros.
“Populism, narrow nationalism and hoarding of health tools, including masks, therapeutics, diagnostics and vaccines by a small number of countries undermined equity"
@DrTedros @WHO “Misinformation and disinformation, often spread by a small number of people, have been a constant distraction, undermining science and trust in life saving health tools”, says @drtedros.
Read 10 tweets
Kai Kupferschmidt Profile picture
Dec 28, 2021
“I didn’t anticipate the havoc polarized politics would wreak on a pandemic response.”

This is a great look back by @HelenBranswell teasing out some pretty grim lessons from the complete dumpster fire of these last two years

statnews.com/2021/12/28/10-…
“For reasons I may never understand, in January and February of 2020 much of the world seemed not to grasp that the new virus that was spreading so rapidly in China wouldn’t stay in China.”
I feel the exact same way. Hard to imagine I will ever quite understand this…
And remember this in the coming weeks:
“The guiding principle of outbreak response is hope for the best but prepare for the worst. It has felt too often in this pandemic that people are forgetting about the second part of that maxim.”
Read 4 tweets
Kai Kupferschmidt Profile picture
Dec 24, 2021
One month ago, I wrote a first thread on #omicron (before it was called that) and I said we needed patience and we would learn a lot more.
So where are we today?
A quick #omicron thread before I sign off for a few days:

WHAT WE HAVE LEARNED:
A lot of the early fears have been borne out.
The virus is spreading in many countries just as it did in SAfrica.
It clearly has a huge growth advantage over Delta.
It is a lot better at infecting vaccinated and recovered individuals than previous variants.
BUT:
As the virus has spread, we have seen some hopeful signs as well.
We have seen fewer hospitalisations so far than in previous waves.
We have seen a faster than expected turnaround in South Africa.
We have early data suggesting the virus *might* be inherently milder.
Read 15 tweets

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