469 who spiked the corona?

Omicron is here. In less than a month, it has gone from zero cases in the US, to 73% of cases as of this past weekend.

At top is San Francisco, below is New York State.

The good news is, if you're vaccinated, you might not get too sick. The bad news is, there's a pretty good chance we're all going to get sick in this one.

Here's NYC, where you can see omicron is making the curve from March 2020 look small.

Or else, lockdown.

I'm not a doctor, or an expert. Here's what I've picked up about omicron:

1. It is more transmissible. At least twice as easily spread as the Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2. They say it's on the level of measles, the most easily spread virus we know.

2. It seems to have borrowed some tricks from the common cold. Literally, according to at least one report I've read, most of the spike protein mutations in Omicron match directly to the common cold, another coronavirus. 

3. We're not going to shut down. The political will isn't there, plus the money and decision makers have been vaccinated. They're not going to die, so they are more than happy to send you off to work.

4. Unless it gets really bad. The Netherlands just locked down.

5. Theater is still fucked. There was a moment this fall when things were looking up, but my gut instinct is people are about to self-cancel mass gatherings again. Look at those curves above. 

 Here's what I'm doing: n95 in suspect circumstances, and small gatherings with fully vaccinated people. And recognizing that sooner or later, I will likely catch this shit. And being thankful that we did the right thing back in 2020 with shutdowns and waiting for the vaccine, and now thankful that I'm vaccinated and less-likely to get seriously ill from COVID-19.

Stay safe, stay healthy, and stay sane.