The Road goes ever on and on ... Day 205 (705)

Continuing the back-and-forth and give-and-take on the BA.2 variant, here is what CNN had in this morning's CNN's 5 Things email (highlights mine): 

"A subvariant of Omicron known as BA.2 is spreading fast and may cause severe disease, research from Japan suggests. New lab experiments show BA.2 is capable of thwarting some of the key weapons we have against Covid-19, including being able to escape the immunity created by vaccines. It also appears to be resistant to some monoclonal antibody treatments currently being used to fight Omicron. BA.2 is highly mutated when compared with the original virus that emerged in Wuhan, China. It has been detected in 74 countries and 47 US states, and about 4% of Americans with Covid-19 now have infections caused by BA.2, according to data from the CDC."

So far, what I've read from the CDC or WHO doesn't seem to be taking these studies into account, even to mention that they have yet to be peer reviewed or to offer some other disclaimer. Hawaii is now the only state that has not yet announced relaxed mask mandates. P(uerto Rice has also not announced any relaxation.) Masks in schools may be the last stumbling block. Here in Virginia, masks will be optional for students at schoolsas of March 1; staff and visitors must still wear them. Masks must also be worn on school buses since those fall under a federal mandate. A child will be able to put a mask on at home, wear it on the bus, then remove it upon arriving at school. Teachers and other staff are not expected to be mask police. 

The Swiss president announced an end to most pandemic restrictions the day before he tested positive for covid. Japan will open its borders to business travelers and students but remain closed to tourists. The US is increasing vaccine assistance to 11 African nations through Global Vax, the Initiative for Global Vaccine Access. The US will provide "intensive financial, technical, and diplomatic support" to countries that so far have been able to increase vaccine uptake. Right now, 12 percent of the population of Africa is fully vaccinated, and an average of six million people are vaccinated each week. That number needs to increase to 36 million, though, to reach the target of 70 percent vaccination by the middle of this year.

At the start of the pandemic, there were more cases and deaths in Democratic areas because they are home to several major international airports. By the end of 2020, though, there was no partisan difference on case numbers or deaths. In early 2021, vaccines became available, at which point covid became an overly Republican illness. A new study estimates that 135,000 unvaccinated Americans who did not need to die did die in the last six months. The death toll is worse in counties that voted for the ex-President by a large margin. Political polarization appears to have warped people's thinking even when personal safety is an issue. Now, however, the partisan gap is no longer growing, possibly because Republicans have more natural immunity due to prior infections. 

Finally, California has become the first state that wants to treat covid as a manageable risk that "will remain with us for some time, if not forever." Now, about BA.2, California....