How deadly is the Omicron variant?
This Twitter thread from @pieterstreicher has been doing the rounds, almost old news now but worth a read:
He has estimated the Infection Fatality Rate (IFR) for Omicron as 0.053%. If correct, this means that if 1887 people were to be infected with SARS-CoV-2, we would expect 1 person to die (on average).
This would make it roughly 3 x less deadly than the "original" alpha variant, which John Ionaddis estimated has an IFR of 0.15%. Of course the methodology will be different and this calculation is from a guy on a Twitter thread, not a peer-reviewed study, so take with a large pinch of salt.
The epidemiological relevance of the COVID-19-vaccinated population is increasing
This is a letter published in The Lancet that references a few sources that suggest the impact of vaccination in terms of reducing transmission isn’t as high as we might hope:
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanepe/article/PIIS2666-7762(21)00258-1/fulltext?s=08#%20
There’s nothing particularly new here for those who have been following things closely, but the fact that it’s published in as esteemed journal is notable.
All hail COVID
An NHS doctor (apparently) explaining some of the experiences they’ve had:
https://tcp.art.blog/2021/11/25/all-hail-covid/
Some random links
Abi Roberts satirises Carole Malone on the Jeremy Vine show:
The irony:
Ryanair get salty: