01-17-2022, 10:26 AM
(01-17-2022, 12:11 AM)jeffster Wrote:(01-16-2022, 11:24 PM)plam Wrote: Incidentally, some NZ experts are saying that 1) NZ should delay Omicron as long as possible (boosters, kids, plus better masks) but also once it arrives the government should switch from suppression to mitigation. Though I don't really think anyone has tried harsh lockdowns for Omicron.
To be honest, I don't think anyone has any good answers. No matter what way we handle it, we're shooting ourselves in the foot.
Boosters I don't think will make a huge difference when it comes to omicron infections, though it would help with hospitalizations, but good mask mandates, limited social contacts (that is, hanging out with family and friends), and hygiene would go a long way.
Places like Japan have done fairly well, all considering. But things like cleanliness are held in high regard over there, unlike Canada, where cleanliness and hygiene isn't even a second though, let alone first.
Except that we KNOW that COVID is almost never transmitted through fomites, so cleaning and hygiene are not effective tools in limiting it's spread.
Mask wearing is much more ubiquitous (and I suspect, significantly less often done wrong...I see noses all over the place now), but I don't know what other policies they have used.
As for the vaccine, the preliminary study that showed the booster was ineffective, has mostly been redacted. The booster is very effective at limiting severe infection, I haven't seen specific data on infections, but all through the pandemic we've seen that limiting severe disease also limits transmission (and of course it does, because if people are less sick for a shorter time they are less likely to spread the virus).