All I'm showing you is that Slavitt, like you, has no idea about what he speaks (and claims with total confidence that he does).
All in the Omicron related threads — news reports, data, statements from doctors, etc. Go read it. Here is just one of the initial studies coming out of South Africa showing the high rate of Covid reinfection with Omicron. Conclusion: Population-level evidence suggests that the Omicron variant is associated with substantial ability to evade immunity from prior infection. In contrast, there is no population-wide epidemiological evidence of immune escape associated with the Beta or Delta variants. This finding has important implications for public health planning, particularly in countries like South Africa with high rates of immunity from prior infection. Urgent questions remain regarding whether Omicron is also able to evade vaccine-induced immunity and the potential implications of reduced immunity to infection on protection against severe disease and death.
And some additional information from the New York Times... Prior Infection Is Little Defense Against Virus Variant, Scientists Say Evidence from South Africa, where the Omicron variant already dominates, shows a high rate of reinfection of people who have already had the coronavirus. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/02/world/africa/virus-omicron-variant-reinfection.html Tags: COVIDOMICRON
Also from the study: If the high number of reinfections in Gauteng and nationally indicates that Omicron is able to evade immunity from prior infection, this pattern should become clear across provinces in by early-to-mid December. I guess the "suggests" in your quote is just a suggestion and not correct.
As noted Omicron is new variant -- and these are the initial studies. However all of the studies demonstrate a higher level of reinfection from Omicron than previous variants. Some of the studies appear to indicate that prior natural infection nearly provides no protection at all against Omicron. These studies are covered in mainstream media with reporting from ABC, NYT, etc. covering them and linking to the actual studies. As with all brand new variants as time goes along more details will come out. As of right now it appears that Omicron is more infectious, less severe, re-infects easily and is more vaccine evasive. However they are also stating (WHO, etc.) that the current vaccines will provide protection against Omicron (but are less effective) but boosters are recommended. Omicron not more severe than Delta, existing vaccines will work: WHO Meanwhile, researchers in South Africa have found that Pfizer's Covid-19 vaccine actually provides less immunity to the Omicron variant than to other major versions of the virus. https://www.hindustantimes.com/worl...ccines-will-work-who-101638921979376-amp.html Tags: COVIDOMICRON
People with boosters are 90% less likely to die from Covid compared to double-jabbed https://www.the-sun.com/health/4237145/boosters-less-likely-die-covid-compared-double-jabbed/ NEW data proves how critical Covid vaccine boosters are amid the spread of Omicron across the world. A study has shown that people who had top-up doses were 90 per cent less likely to die of the virus compared to those who had two shots. In both the triple and double-jabbed, deaths would have been much lower than the unvaccinated. The Sun's Jab's Army has called upon all Brits to come forward and have their life-saving shot, with volunteers also needed to drive the rollout. It is the crucial way to “save Christmas” from devastating restrictions, while keeping loved ones as safe as possible. For the study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, Israeli researchers studied almost 850,000 people over the age of 50. All had been given two doses of Pfizer at least five months earlier. But only 90 per cent had received a booster shot. The Pfizer jab is also used for top-ups in the UK. Covid deaths were compared between the two groups. The authors wrote: “Participants who received a booster at least 5 months after a second dose of BNT162b2 [Pfizer] had 90 per cent lower mortality due to Covid-19 than participants who did not receive a booster.” Some 65 deaths occured in the 758,118 people who had three vaccine doses. Of 85,090 people without the booster, 137 died of Covid. The team cautioned that the study period was short (54 days), and so it’s not clear how boosters will elevate protection beyond that point. There is uncertainty about how long the effect of boosters lasts, although studies show immunity from two doses starts waning at three months. It is expected that in the future, Covid jabs will become annual to keep protection high. Another recent study of almost 4.7 million Israeli people over the age of 16 showed similarly staggering real-world results. Published in the same journal, it showed that the Covid death rate was almost 15 times lower in people over 60 who had been given a booster shot 12 days earlier. Even in the over 60s who had received the booster shot seven days before, deaths were five times lower. It takes up to 14 days for the immune system to respond to the vaccine dose and fire up antibodies. It comes amid a booster drive in the UK, which is fighting to slow the spread of the Omicron variant before Christmas. It is expected the variant will weaken the effect of vaccines to some extent, but scientists are still figuring out how much. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said at yesterday’s Downing Street briefing: “The single biggest thing that every one of us can do is to get our jabs and, crucially, to get that booster as soon as our turn arrives. “Let’s do everything we can to protect ourselves and our loved ones this winter, and reduce the pressures on our NHS.” But while boosters were at the centre of the Government’s “Plan A” to tackle Covid, more measures are being put in place to keep on top of Omicron. Last night the PM announced Plan B, including working from home and vaccine passports, would be implemented Sir Patrick Vallance said the Government's scientific advisers (Sage) had said more action needed to be taken over booster shots. The chief scientific adviser said from No10: "The boosters are incredibly important, but it is also about trying to reduce the possibility of spread, which means reducing social contacts in order to try and achieve that.” Data suggest that the Pfizer jab will protect against Omicron - which has mutations that are likely to help it get around some antibodies. The new data revealed two jabs prevent serious illness from the mutant strain. But, getting a booster shot, or a third dose, "turbocharges immunity" and is what is needed to successfully beat the variant, the study found. It suggests three doses is the new two. However, Pfizer said two doses will still work and there were other ways to measure immunity, such as T-cells. Earlier this week, Ben Osborn, country manager for the pharmaceutical firm in the UK, said people are likely to need Covid-19 booster shots “for a number of years to come”. He told PA: “What we don’t know is whether that will be a six-month boost, as we’re all going through right now, or whether that will become more of a flu-like booster job on an annual basis.”