December is upon us. 'Tis the season for new models.
I'm not talking about Toyotas. This isn't about the latest I-Phone, either. You can't even get this one on Amazon.
Just in time for the holiday season comes a new Covid variant from South Africa. It's a bit mysterious but looks to be a strong contender for model of the year. It even has a fresh off the sales lot name--omicron.
Really, that is not the newest Tesla...though I admit I'd seriously look at a Tesla Omicron. But I digress.
You know what isn't digressing? The coronavirus. The old Covid has managed to spread at least two mutations of itself around the world in about 20 or so months. Now a third is poised for a tour. The only question is the ticket price.
There's a lot we don't know. Early worry is omicron might be highly contagious, at least as contagious as the delta variant. But we don't know for sure. We do know it has over 30 mutations just to the infamous spike protein that lets it attatch to humans.
That means vaccinations may not be as effective as for the original Covid-19 or delta variant. We'll probably know before too long.
We don't yet know how deadly it might be or even how acute its symptoms are. It could prove to be no more than a mild annoyance to those infected. This may all seem like much ado about nothing in a couple of weeks.
But we really don't know. Like we didn't know when this all started around two Marchs ago. We'll figure it out, but will it be early enough to do anything about it?
As of this writing, the omicron variant has been detected in over 20 countries. Infectious disease experts say it's probably in any country with direct flights from South Africa over the last two weeks, even if it hasn't been detected.
There are direct flights into at least 4 airports in the United States. It's been here for a while.
Pike and surrounding counties have returned to the red zone, with incidence rates over 25 cases per 100,000, in the last week. We'll be seeing the results of unvaccinated Thanksgiving gatherings very soon.
I've been vaccinated and boosted, so I'm not that worried about myself. I'll worry about omicron if it's shown to be vaccine resistant. What I worry about are the third of Americans who have not been vaccinated. They bore the brunt of the delta wave and they'll likely pay the highest price for omicron, too.
We know right now the best way to keep from being hospitalized and dying from Covid is by being vaccinated. That is a fact no amount of conspiracy or belief can refute.
Want to do something special for yourself and your family, not to mention thousands of front-line healthcare workers and maybe even the rest of us?
Just in time for the holiday season, avoid the new models and the old. Go to your nearest healthcare provider and get yourself a shot. It won't be the most expensive thing you ever got, but it sure could be if you don't.