The Road goes ever on and on ... Day 260 (760)

Children ages five through 11 may soon be able to get boosters six months after their second dose. Pfizer has asked the FDA for emergency authorization to give such shots. In testing, the booster raised fighting antibodies by 36 times. Antibodies were six times higher one month after a booster than they were one month after the second dose. 

Boosters might be the way to go if the current surge continues, 86 percent of current cases are of the B!.2 subvariant, At the same time, though, there are two new subvariants of Omicron that have been found in New York and could be contributing to the surge. Called BA.2.12 and BA2.12.1, they supposedly accounted for over 70 percent of the new cases in central New York state in March and account for 90 percent of the current cases. They do not appear to cause more severe disease, though they could have a growth advantage of 25 percent over BA.2. It is not clear if these two spread more quickly because they are more contagious or have an improved ability to beat immunity. Unfortunately, one subvariant has a mutation that has been shown to help dodge immunity.

In the opinion of one public health expert, the current climate is "what the beginning of surges have looked like" before. She notes that we are at a key point. "If we take decisive action to reduce the transmission, they we will reduce case growth.... and if we don't, then we're really leaving it to the virus to decide what's next." And from me, if testing continues to drop off as much as it has lately, we'll have no real notice when a new variant rears its ugly head. Forewarned is forearmed after all. 

Almost 400 million people, or about one third of the population, in China are under some form of lockdown. If you want an iPhone, buy one now. Two of the factories making them have stopped production. Shanghai's lockdown has led to an extreme food shortage. There have been street fights over food. This is causing people in other cities such as Beijing to begin to stockpile food. Hong Kong's wave is lessening, and some restrictions are easing. Social distancing will no longer be required. Restaurants may now stay open until 10:00 pm rather than 6:00 pm. Four people can gather in public rather than the current two. Gyms, museums, theaters, beauty salons, gaming arcades, and religious venues may reopen. Bars, however, may not. There's always something.