Oh My Omicron

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Early last week we started hearing reports of a new COVID variant first identified in southern Africa that was being referred to as Nu. It wasn't hugely widespread yet, but was a concern because it was extremely infectious and had a number of mutations, including on the spike proteins, which are the parts of the virus that many vaccines are designed to target. 

Within a couple days when it was in the news much more, they were referring to it as Omicron. According to this article, a couple Greek letters were skipped in the official naming scheme (I'm not surprised - "nu" sounds a lot like you're just saying it's "new").

While the new variant does have a large number of mutations and seems to be very infectious, they're also saying people are getting milder infections. Still, the US and many other countries have closed travel from 7 African countries where it was identified. Which is basically pointless, because this variant has also already been found in a few European countries and elsewhere, and we're not closing the borders to them... And if it's in all these places already, it's probably everywhere and we just don't know it yet, as we've already seen with the original COVID-19 virus and some of these other variants. Scientists in South Africa are saying they're being punished for having successfully identified this variant early. 

This is a good article about what's known and unknown so far about Omicron. Interestingly, they mention that some of the antiviral treatments currently in development could become very important if the vaccines are less powerful against this variant. And of course, this is all happening just in time for the holidays and lots of traveling and people getting together..

Boosted Thanksgiving

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We just celebrated our second Thanksgiving during a global pandemic. Unlike last year, this year many families were planning to get back together now that everyone has been vaccinated, some testing before meeting, etc. My in-laws were together (although they were last year, too), and half my family had a meal together, but the rest of us weren't comfortable with that, so did our own separate things at home again.

Like last year, I decided that if I wasn't hosting people, I wasn't cooking anything, so we ordered our dinner again, this time from a local restaurant. It was very good, but it was supposed to be a [generous] meal for four, and we'll be working on eating these leftovers for at least a week!

One nice change is that many stores announced they would be closed on Thanksgiving, after years of Black Friday creeping earlier and earlier into the day before. They say they're doing it for the benefit of their employees, but I'm sure the labor shortage (and maybe even supply chain issues) have something to do with it - both in trying to retain the employees they do have with more holidays off, and due to staffing issues if they had tried to open. I've seen nothing but a positive response to these announcements though.

Also, my husband and I received our vaccine booster shots the day before Thanksgiving! Our first doses were provided by my employer in the spring, but now that they are more readily available, we went to a local site run by our county. We actually decided to mix & match and get the other brand of mRNA vaccine this time, as I've heard it elicits a stronger immune response by teaching your body different things - though most people still seem to be staying brand loyal.

Following the booster, we both tried to take it easy and stay hydrated. I started feeling achy and chills that evening about 9 hours later, and had a minor headache that lasted about a day and a half. My husband was fine through the next day, but the following evening got the same headache and chills, and probably had a fever overnight. He was fine by the next morning, and never had a headache or any other symptoms.

Return to "Normal?"

My Facebook memories reminded me that one year ago today (after historic election results were announced over the weekend), safety and efficacy results were announced for the first COVID vaccine. Now that same vaccine has been approved for emergency use in children as young as 5, and I've been enjoying seeing the pictures of all my friends' kids who are so excited to receive theirs and get one step closer to returning to normal.

There's also been some announcements of antiviral drugs and treatments. The first at-home, oral treatment was just approved for use in the UK. And 3rd/booster doses of mRNA vaccines have been approved for certain populations in the US, though I see all sorts of people getting them, and there's talk of just recommending them for all adults.

For the most part, it feels like people are living like "normal," but there are still places that are enforcing restrictions and precautions. Every place has signs about distancing 6 feet that everyone ignores. Going to stores is still kind of a 50/50 mix of wearing masks or not. Doctors offices are requiring masks. My office is still not fully open, requiring pre-registration to work on site to ensure a limited capacity (though they've loosened up now to where you can register same-day or for a month in advance), with masks required unless eating or in a room by yourself (and also all staff must be vaccinated).

Some of my usually very cautious and conservative friends are planning large(ish) family gatherings for the holidays. My family is still planning to have a socially distant Thanksgiving and Christmas at our respective homes. I've been sitting out this season, but my band returned to indoor rehearsals this fall and just put on a fall concert in their usual indoor auditorium - it was about half the length of a usual concert, with no intermission, vaccine cards checked at the door (so no children under age 12), and masks required at all times unless playing an instrument with your mouth... but I did not feel comfortable attending. The band and audience were both very large and I wasn't interested in sitting in an enclosed room with that many people for that long.