February 10, 2023: update; subvariant XBB1.5 (Kraken); Yale Medicine.
January 1, 2023: CDC -- omicron subvariant XBB.1.5 now accounts for 40% of all cases. Links everywhere.
- has pushed out BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 as the number one subvariants
The XBB subvariant, from which XBB.1.5 descends, is a recombinant of two subvariants that descended from the BA.2 omicron subvariant. That means it carries genetic data from two versions of the coronavirus that originated from the BA.2 subvariant.
Regionally, XBB.1.5 now accounts for the majority of COVID-19 cases in the northeast, identified as causing 75 percent of cases in New England and in the New York tri-state area.
The omicron subvariants XBB and XBB.1 were first identified in India.
Some scientists, including Scripps Research Institute professor of molecular medicine Eric Topol, have put forward the possibility that XBB.1.5 could have mutated in New York.
Re-posting Covid update from December 15, 2022
*********************
The Atlantic Story On Covid
Covid variants:
For the first couple of years of the coronavirus pandemic, the crisis was marked by a succession of variants that pummeled us one at a time.
The original virus rapidly gave way to D614G, before ceding the stage to Alpha, Delta, Omicron, and then Omicron’s many offshoots.
But as our next COVID winter looms, it seems that SARS-CoV-2 may be swapping its lead-antagonist approach for an ensemble cast: Several subvariants are now vying for top billing.
In the United States, BA.5—dominant since the end of spring—is slowly yielding to a slew of its siblings, among them BA.4.6, BF.7, BQ.1, and BQ.1.1; another subvariant, XBB, threatens to steal the spotlight from overseas.
Whether all of these will divvy up infections in the next few months, or whether they’ll be pushed aside by something new, is still anyone’s guess. Either way, the forecast looks a little grim.
None of the new variants will completely circumvent the full set of immune defenses that human bodies, schooled by vaccines or past infections, can launch. Yet all of them seem pretty good at dodging a hefty subset of our existing antibodies.For anyone who gets infected, such evasions could make the difference between asymptomatic and feeling pretty terrible. And for the subset of people who become sick enough to need clinical care, the consequences could get even worse.
Some of our best COVID treatments are made from single antibodies tailored to the virus, which may simply cease to work as SARS-CoV-2 switches up its form.
Past variants have already knocked out several such concoctions—among them, REGEN-COV, sotrovimab, and bamlanivimab/etesevimab—from the U.S. arsenal.
The only two left are bebtelovimab, a treatment for people who have already been infected, and Evusheld, a crucial supplement to vaccination for those who are moderately or severely immunocompromised; both are still deployed in hospitals countrywide.
But should another swarm of variants take over, these two lone antibody therapies could also be obsolete within months, if not weeks.
“It seems like the writing is on the wall,” says Erin McCreary, an infectious-disease pharmacist at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. “I live constantly low-key worried that I’m not going to have an active therapy for my patients, and I won’t be able to help them.”
All of this bodes poorly for this winter and beyond. In the near term, millions of immunocompromised people could be left without viable options either to keep SARS-CoV-2 at bay or to temper its blaze once an infection begins to burn. And that loss would set a troubling precedent for seasons to come. The business end of the virus “is now adapting so rapidly that I don’t know how it’s going to be possible for monoclonals to keep up,” says Jeanne Marrazzo, an infectious-disease physician at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Experts may need to revamp the strategies they use to bring new therapies to market—or find themselves, once again, in a serious bind.
“I worry,” Marrazzo told me, “that we’re on a razor’s edge.”January 7, 2022: link here.
|
|
|
A |
B |
C |
D |
F |
|
|
|
|
|
Doses of vaccine distributed to health facilities |
Change from day before |
Vaccinations given |
Change from day before |
Percent of distributed vaccine that is actually administered |
Doses received in past week, current Monday from previous Tuesday |
Average number of doses given / day in past seven days |
|
Thursday |
January 6, 2022 |
632,575,655 |
14,499,610 |
515,162,867 |
1,322,894 |
81.44% |
|
|
|
Wednesday |
January 5, 2022 |
618,076,045 |
3,664,230 |
513,839,973 |
1,574,960 |
83.14% |
|
|
|
Tuesday |
January 4, 2022 |
614,411,815 |
-189,330 |
512,265,013 |
921,405 |
83.37% |
|
|
|
Monday |
January 3, 2022 |
614,601,145 |
-189,330 |
511,343,608 |
921,407 |
83.20% |
5,011,190 |
1,123,277 |
|
Sunday |
January 2, 2022 |
614,790,475 |
-189,330 |
510,422,201 |
921,407 |
83.02% |
|
|
|
Saturday |
January 1, 2022 |
614,979,805 |
-189,330 |
509,500,794 |
921,407 |
82.85% |
|
|
|
Friday |
December 31, 2021 |
615,169,135 |
-189,330 |
508,579,387 |
921,407 |
82.67% |
|
|
|
Thursday |
December 30, 2021 |
615,358,465 |
1,096,200 |
507,657,980 |
1,344,045 |
82.50% |
|
|
|
Wednesday |
December 29, 2021 |
614,262,265 |
4,670,890 |
506,313,935 |
1,299,955 |
82.43% |
|
|
|
Tuesday |
December 28, 2021 |
609,591,375 |
1,420 |
505,013,980 |
1,533,313 |
82.84% |
|
|
|
Monday |
December 27, 2021 |
609,589,955 |
-577,474 |
503,480,667 |
814,585 |
82.59% |
5,175,070 |
1,034,442 |
December 24, 2021: Huge "loss" of healthcare workers with omicron. Old rule: ten days quarantine. Now, those healthcare workers badly needed. NY governor says five days quarantine is all that is necessary if a) worker is fully vaccinated; b) recovered or recovering; and, c) afebrile for 72 hours. The bad news: the cat is already out of the bag: if you were sent home because you tested positive but were asymptomatic or, at worse, a minor "cold", you could certainly come up with "excuse" to stay home form work for the full ten days and still get paid, despite having nothing more than a "cold."
December 12, 2021: Saturday's numbers --
- delivered: 594,372,295
- administered: 482,695,970
- at least one dose: 238,679,707
- fully vaccinated: 201,688,550
November 29, 2021: it appears the Democrats were correct the
first time when Trump's vaccines were rushed out: the Democrats said the
vaccines were dangerous and did not work. The Republicans were pushing
Trump to get the vaccines approved, and he accommodated with
"Warpspeed." Now, after Biden is in office, the Republicans are agreeing
with the Democrats at that time who said the vaccines were rushed out
without adequate study; were dangerous; and wouldn't work anyway. The
Democrats now tell us the vaccines have been well-studied, are safe, and
incredibly effective. It doesn't seem either side can have it both ways.
November 23, 2021. Error with CDC spreadsheet, link here.
November 22, 2021.Germany vs Sweden (again). Fascinating. Link here.
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