If you haven’t heard, there’s a new variant of COVID-19 on the loose. And while that might be a scary thing initially, experts are now claiming that it could be our very salvation, or at the very least, an end to the current pandemic.
The possibility comes as more data is being researched and found on the variant. While it is known to be the most contagious of all the variants by far, research is proving that it not only is less dangerous in terms of severity but also could provide our nation and the world with the natural immunity we’ve been looking for.
As Monica Gandhi, an immunologist from the University of California in San Francisco, says, the variant has brought about a “totally different phase” of the pandemic. And according to what they are seeing so far, it could create “profound immunity in the population. It will hopefully end the pandemic.”
And she’s not the only one to think so.
Dr. Robert Malone, a vaccine expert and one who played a significant role in creating the technology behind the mRNA vaccines of both Pfizer and Moderna, says this is incredibly “good news.”
On Fox News’s “The Ingraham Angle,” Malone explained that the current vaccines, including the booster shot, might not be all that effective against the omicron variant, basically due to its massive contagiousness. According to his studies, the omicron variant has a “reproductive coefficient” with a measure of “ineffectiveness that’s in the range of measles. It’s a seven to 10 range.”
What that means in layman’s terms is that everyone infected with omicron will likely infect another seven to 10 people more.
In comparison, the delta variant rate of transmission was about five to six people.
However, the higher transmission rate is kind of a good thing. Now, of course, at first, glance that doesn’t seem accurate. But as Malone further explains, this is because omicron is also far less deadly or severe.
He told Ingraham just before Christmas that even though omicron has well made its way all across the world, there, at the time, had been “less than 10” deaths due to the disease. This is because studies show that while the first couple variants made their way deep into the lungs, creating all sorts of problems, omicron “has shifted to the upper airway, indicating the virus is weakening.”
The combination of the variant’s low disease but high contagiousness is the perfect recipe for what a vaccinologist like Malone calls a “live-attenuated virus vaccine that you might design on purpose.” Basically, it will create a natural immune response with the highest odds.
And as Malone says, that’s “about as good as we could possibly want.”
Now, of course, the political left will make a case that the pandemic is getting way worse as case numbers go up as omicron continues to spread. But, as the New York Times COVID tracker shows, the number of infected has already risen significantly, with some one million known positive cases as of last Monday. To be sure, this is the highest number of cases since the pandemic first began. In January 2021, the highest daily number was only about 250,000 cases.
But as Reuters points out, that doesn’t mean hospitalizations or deaths are up. In fact, as the case numbers continue to rise, COVID deaths are continuing to go down and be “comparatively” low.
The New York Times also noted this fact, as the variant has now fully spread through its origin in South Africa without causing any real increase in deaths or hospitalizations. A study conducted there concluded that based on those numbers, omicron is some 73 percent less likely to cause severe disease than its more dangerous counterpart, delta.
As Malone says, this highly contagious variant looks more and more like a “Christmas present” to the world.
Of course, no one wants to be infected with it. But should you be, there is hope that the immunity you will gain from it will be more effective than anything science has been able to offer so far or even immunity acquired from the other variants.
Good news, indeed…
