Omicron in the New Year
By Albert B. Kelly
As we put the finishing touches on 2021, we are on the edge of something that could go either way. I’m talking about the Omicron variant. It is stunning to think that this virus first appeared a little over four weeks ago and it is quickly becoming the dominant strain of the virus both here and around the globe.
As I mentioned in this space a month ago, this new variant has some 50 mutations with approximately 30 of those mutations on the spike protein. This matters because the protein is how the virus enters our cells and is also how the mRNA vaccines teach our immune systems to recognize and kill the virus before illness takes hold.
Scientists are still learning about this variant and will continue to do so for weeks and months to come. What appears to be emerging with this variant is that it is far more transmissible then the Delta variant as well as the original strain of the virus that kicked off the pandemic back in March of 2020. Again, the thing that is stunning is the rapid spread of this variant.
I urge everyone who is not already vaccinated to consider getting vaccinated. I say that even as information is emerging that this variant, while far more transmissible, is also seemingly milder than Delta in terms of illness which means that some people will assume they don’t need to be vaccinated. But here’s the thing, do you really want to hang your hat on this variant being a little less mild?
What I mean to say is that we have no way of knowing how our bodies will react. We also do not know if we are ticking time bombs, walking around with some unknown or underlying condition that we’re simply not aware of that will result in us being critically ill from this virus. We’re already looking at some 833,000 dead from this virus.
What we don’t know is how many of these dead declined to get vaccinated because they thought that the virus could be easily managed with some home remedy or perhaps they thought the virus was some big media hype, or a big conspiracy to make money, or just another version of the flu, or any one of a dozen things to enable people to disregard the body count and ignore the science- the political version of flipping the middle finger until the next election?
How many deaths could have been avoided through vaccination? And how many of those who died slipped out of this life regretting their decision to believe some nonsense about the vaccines? How many, in the valley of the shadow of death, perhaps saying goodbye to a loved one on a device, would have gladly risked the long term unknowns of the vaccines for a few extra years or more with the people they loved?
All of these are questions that can’t really be answered, but they’re also questions that shouldn’t have to be asked, but here we are. Beyond simply being vaccinated, we also have the so-called “booster” shot. Honestly, if we’re giving this virus its due, we’re not really talking about a booster, but a third shot in a series if we’re talking about the mRNA vaccines (Moderna and Pfizer) and a second shot if we’re talking about the J&J. Regardless, I encourage everyone who has been vaccinated to get this additional shot to help your immune system fight this current Omicron threat.
To date, as I write this, we have lost 468 of our neighbors here in Cumberland County. In Bridgeton, we’ve had 61 Covid-related deaths. The positivity rates both locally and throughout our region is growing dramatically. We need to avoid any situation where our local hospitals are taxed beyond what they can handle due to Covid.
This isn’t just about Covid, but about access to treatment for all sorts of medical conditions. The more we burden our local healthcare system and the people who operate it with Covid-related problems that could have been avoided through vaccinations, the more we run the risk that the people and medical resources we need to treat everything that is not Covid, will simply not be there when we or our loved ones are in trouble. That’s no way to start 2022. Please get vaccinated or get the booster and have a safe and Happy New Year.