It wasn't clear at first, which is why both Baron and I misunderstood it. Then you clarified it and all was well. Of course it was then you went on and told me to stop hating you and all the other stuff. And so it goes, and so we go.
The chart is truncated, but seems to relate to vaccine related side effects, not the number of children hospitalized from Omicron.
You are aware that not every Covid positive test is via PCR ? Yet, I was under the impression that most regions have been using rapid antigen (not antibody) tests for several months although I could be wrong. Also, most hospitals that receive a patient that tested positive for Covid by a PCR...after the patient is admitted to the hospital...typically blood draw is done to help confirm the initial positive Covid test (let us say a home Nose Swab - PCR or Antigen) Patients that are admitted for severe Covid illness especially those with health insurance...the insurance companies typically require an Antibody test (Serological test) after the patient has recovered especially when there is an insurance claim. Testing of admitted patients is critical because any prior testing diagnosis can be correlated with any severe Covid illness (e.g. pneumonia, certain types of blood clots et cetera). My point, there's too much dependence on case counts when we should only be looking at Hospitalization, ICU Admission, and even Deaths (autopsy) to confirm Covid numbers instead of a Drive-Thru Testing Site. Yet, I do understand why there's a need for PCR test to minimize the possible spread of Covid because there's a large percentage of the population that do not have access to medical care and there's another large percentage of the population that stay at home until a severe Covid illness develops (e.g. not able to breadth). It's not perfect but it does help to minimize someone that's truly positive for Covid from the possibility of spreading Covid to someone else...plus the tests are convenient and it alerts a community of an outbreak... The Covid infection, later can be confirmed with increases in Hospitalization, ICU Admission, and even Deaths...a sad way for confirmation of severe Covid illness and spread. The latter gives states and provinces heads up about what areas actually needs additional assistance in providing medical care during a Pandemic. wrbtrader
[As someone already pointed out, you aren't taking into account survivorship bias.] So if you had covid before, you know that new variants will be no big deal ... before any data on the new variant is out? You'll know in advance not to take it seriously, and to ignore calls from the CDC to get vaccinated, even though there would be no early data on the deadliness of the new variant at that time? I'm not sure how much armchair pundits, Fox News actors, pizza-gaters, space laser folks, antivaxxers, Trump supports, GOP clowns, and the like have contributed to health advancement in this country, but I know that the CDC has done the U.S. and the world a lot of good. They're not perfect; but they're less stupid than the best of all the other options. I welcome any antivaxxer to post a link to the antivaxxer contributions to health in the U.S. and world. No rush. https://www.cdc.gov/museum/timeline/index.html
. That's exactly the problem... They can not predict when/where the next Variant of Concern will occur nor predict how pathogenic (deadly) it will be. Yet, they do know Covid is here and that Variants of Concern have been birth. Also, they know that travel spreads Covid fairly easily. More importantly, they know that when hospitals reach capacity levels with patients that have severe Covid illnesses...new Covid patients from that point on will have inadequate medical care and the most vulnerable ones are those with comorbidities...the latter has a much lower risk of survival. I will say this, after Delta and Omicron, all hell will break loose if a new but more pathogenic Variant of Concern mutation shows up. We'll start seeing scenes in North America like what we saw in India. wrbtrader
Not to mention those that need medical resources (cardiac issues, auto accidents, etc.) who didn't voluntarily clog the system by avoiding vaccination and subsequently needing an ICU bed etc. 1/3 rd of the country is one big clown show right now.