nudge

Tell that to Israel, Japan, or Morocco who already completely banned foreigners from entering because of omicron fears, or a dozen of other countries who banned all flights from numerous African countries even before his comments...There have been a lot of knee-jerk reactions around COVID, some countries are by far more cautious than some others, and the CEO of one of the main vaccine suppliers giving irresponsible comments like that to the media is surely fueling the fire. I've been trying to get home for almost two years now; so forgive me if I am wary of every little thing that has potential to put another blow to my chances.

The medicalxpress article didn't omit that... "Stephane Bancel told the newspaper in an interview published Tuesday that data would be available on the effectiveness of current vaccines in the next two weeks but scientists were not optimistic. "All the scientists I've talked to ... are like 'this is not going to be good'," he told the newspaper." All in all, he shouldn't be talking shite and fueling panic. My worry is not that the vaccines won't work, my worry is that countries will shut down again because of such claims.

Oh I don't trust or believe any pharma or other big business CEO, but claims like that sadly have the potential to influence political decisions worldwide.

Yeah, let's hope so. But I worry that all it takes is a single claim that "the current vaccines do not offer sufficient protection against omicron", and most of the world would shut their borders again. Meanwhile, Japan banned all foreigners from entering too.

Read this one last night from cover to cover in one sitting: Absolutely loved it. Both funny and sad coming-of-age story of a kid growing up on a reservation. Geared towards teenagers and young adults, obviously, but it's a good read nonetheless.

Yes! I really hope it works out; love him and think he's a perfect fit.

It is true

Israel closing its borders to all foreigners again. Fuck this shit.

Not for any significant conclusions... At this point, all you have is less than 100 globally confirmed cases in young, healthy individuals, both vaccinated and unvaccinated, all asymptomatic or with very mild symptoms.

It's worth noting that South Africa has less than 25% of its population vaccinated though, and with only 83 confirmed cases of omicron, it's really too early to make any assumptions; there's literally no data to base any claims on. The manufacturers of the current vaccines are expected to get first lab results in the next 2-3 weeks only. The confirmed cases in Hong Kong, Israel, and Italy are fully vaccinated, while the Belgian one is unvaccinated.

That's the plan, I'm sure

Also, two flights from South Africa landed in Amsterdam yesterday, 61 out of 600 people tested positive upon arrival. It's not yet known whether any of them are carrying the Omicron variant, but it seems likely at least some of them are. Worth noting that everyone had a negative test before flying.

I hope it turns out to be highly transmissible but extremely mild, as the chairwoman of South African Medical Association suggested based on preliminary data. If that's the case and it takes over all other variants, it could be the breaking point of it becoming endemic without wreaking havoc on healthcare systems worldwide.

Party poopers.

I can't believe they called it Omicron instead of Nu. I was impatiently waiting for a chance to wish people a "Happy Nu Year"

We talked about it earlier in this thread: It's interesting stuff for sure.

With English translation.

Looks like Bayern's annual member meeting was a huge success

So it seems we have found the new head coach, but the contract isn't signed yet, so the announcement is expected next week. Has to be Werner, surely. Especially since we're playing Kiel this weekend.

Yeah, 2 confirmed cases in Hong Kong, both returning travellers - one from South Africa, the other from Canada. Both of them quarantined in the same hotel after returning, and the one who travelled back from South Africa is now considered to be the index case in this potential cluster. Other people who quarantined in 12 rooms on the same floor in the same hotel are now put into precautionary quarantine again. In Israel, the confirmed case is a returnee from Malawi, and they are currently investigating two others who are suspected to carry the same new variant. All three vaccinated, so there's more fuel for worries about it potentially escaping immune response, but all reportedly asymptomatic (the same with the two in Hong Kong, I believe).

The new variant is already found in Hong Kong and Israel. I can smell new lockdowns already.