It was a misstep by the South Korean Public Health Agency to remove restrictions before Omicron had reached its peak infection of the public. Health officials have recently significantly eased quarantine restrictions and border controls and stopped requiring adults to show proof of vaccination or negative tests when entering potentially crowded spaces like restaurants so that more public and health workers could respond to rapidly expanding at-home treatments. Typically a public health agency waits until they see convincing declining data even for infections/hospitalization in the not vaccination population. Simply, on the surface, it looks like South Korea said "fuck those that are not vaccinated" considering they now represent a small percentage of the population and the government saw some early data about the mild infections by Omicron. Infections and hospitalizations were probably worsened by an intense presidential campaign leading up to last week's election, which also appeared to have reduced political capacity to maintain a stringent virus response. Sadly, now the not vaccinated population is becoming angry that the government removed restrictions too soon. The good news is that the growth rate of infections has slowed down due to the effectiveness of oral antiviral treatments,” such as Pfizer's Paxlovid pills. The highly transmissible Omicron subvariant known as BA.2 also seems to be driving up infections. About 26% of the country's recent cases have been linked to BA.2, up from around 17% last month. Yet, I notice something odd about the increasing numbers in South Korea. One data source states it's mainly in the not vaccinated population while at the same it's in the "older population". Strangely, the older population is the most protected population in South Korea by vaccination. Thus, considering the not vaccinated population is so small...South Korea should soon see a dramatic drop in their Covid numbers as Omicron burns through the not vaccinated population. wrbtrader
I forgot to mention a few facts associated with the dramatic rise in Covid infections and hospitalization in South Korea: South Korea has significantly eased quarantine restrictions so essential services won't be disrupted by having huge numbers of people in quarantine. More than 245,000 infected people were being treated at home as of Tuesday, weeks after at-home treatment was made the standard for mild or moderate cases. A little known sect led by a pastor who pokes eyes to heal is at the centre of a COVID-19 outbreak in South Korea. About 90% of the religious community was unvaccinated and the majority were in close contact through communal living. The amazing aspect, the unvaccinated only represent about 6% of the total vaccination while having > 70% of the infections/hospitalization after communal living...many in the religious community. If anyone cares to remember about the first Covid outbreak in South Korea...Shincheonji was a church at the centre of the first major coronavirus epidemic outside China early 2020, with at least 5,227 people linked to its 310,000 followers infected after attending a service in the city of Daegu. https://www.reuters.com/article/china-health-southkorea-church-idINKCN20L0QI wrbtrader
Personal story: I had a childhood friend whom I talked to on Skype twice a year. Last year he increasingly became antivax, so I blocked him, because there is just so much stupidity I can take. Yesterday I just got the news, that 6 weeks after I blocked him, his whole family got the virus. After 2 weeks of suffering at home with high fever and coughing, he passed away. He was 55 and I would say 40-50 lbs overweight, so comorbidity, yet he bought into this stupid reality denial and paid the ultimate price... I am just shaking my head....
But because you have the vaccine, you are just shaking off the virus, each time it enters your system and you don't realize it. Because...Vaccine. Fun stuff. Sorry about your friend though.
HK’s Immunized Who Died of Covid Mainly Got Sinovac: Ming Pao Linda Lew, Bloomberg News Patients displaying Covid-19 symptoms at a temporary triage area next to the emergency department at the Caritas Medical Center hospital at night in Hong Kong, China, on Wednesday, Feb. 16, 2022. President Xi Jinping called for “all necessary measures” to get Hong Kong’s virus outbreak under control, an unusually direct intervention that leaves the city’s leaders even less room to deviate from China’s Covid Zero policy. Photographer: Bertha Wang/Bloomberg , Bloomberg (Bloomberg) -- Almost 87% of Hong Kongers who died from Covid after getting at least one dose of vaccine received Sinovac Biotech Ltd.’s shot, Ming Pao reported, though most deaths occurred among those who weren’t immunized. The newspaper said it analyzed data from the Hospital Authority involving 5,167 of the city’s Covid fatalities, without disclosing its sources or additional information. It found that 71% of those who died were unvaccinated. Of the 1,486 who died after receiving at least one dose, 1,292 -- or 87% -- had gotten Sinovac, Ming Pao reported. Most deaths in Hong Kong have occurred among under-vaccinated senior citizens, particularly those living in elderly care homes. There have been more than 5,400 fatalities in the latest omicron-driven outbreak, making the city’s death per capita the world’s highest. Less than 40% of those aged 80 and older were vaccinated. Two vaccines are available in the Asian financial hub. The Chinese-made Sinovac, which uses the inactivated technology, was often preferred by the elderly who believed it may have fewer side effects than the more potent mRNA immunizations from the German firm BioNTech SE. The Sinovac shot has lower efficacy than that of the Biontech one, and offers limited protection against the omicron variant, studies showed. But it was still effective at reducing the risk of serious illness and deaths from Covid. The Chinese vaccine makes up 60% of all of the doses administered to those aged 60 and above. Many experts, including University of Hong Kong professor and government advisor Yuen Kwok-yung, have said the elderly and children should get the BioNTech vaccine because of its superior protection against omicron. ©2022 Bloomberg L.P.
Yeah as a personal comparison, my sister who is a few years older than my friend, but skinny and sporty with 3 vaccine shots, when she got Omicron it was a non-event for her. I wonder, had my friend lost weight and got a bunch of vit D before getting infected, my bet he would have survived even without vaccination, although possible still with a hard time during his infection. We will never know. The point is, if you are old and specially if you have any comorbidity, get the freaking shots.
Jenn Psaki has covid again, her second time since October, despite being double vaxxed and boosted. OCT, NOV, DEC, JAN, FEB, MAR, and 2 X's with COVID,,, hmmmmmmm and what VAX did she get Jabbed with...
Having the virus in your system doesn't mean shit. Hell, there are probably a ton of folks out there who have had the virus in their system 5-6 times. The vax is doing the job of keeping them from getting sick. Anyone who gets tested for Covid every day for a year is going to have multiple positve results. Big deal. You could be positive for Influenza right now but do not know it, because your body is destroying it before it can cause you problems.