Do we all just need to get it?

[friedeggandsauce]

So this new variant is really virulent, we went out just over a week ago and more than half our party of 12 have now got covid.

Thankfully no one is really ill with it, people have got a sore throat, bit of a headache, slight temp but nothing else.

So with that in mind (and I know there may be a few who get it bad) why are we isolating? Do we just need to all get it?

This isn't goady, we're all isolating and have taken the correct tests, just trying to see if this could just end (in an optimistic way!)

I should really have said “shield the vulnerable as much as they wish for”. I understand you must be sick to the back teeth of it. I have vulnerable friends and they say to me now they just want to stop living this half life and are prepared to take the risk

@Wolfiefan

I’m vulnerable. I’ve had my jabs. TBH I shielded and it was miserable. I’m now at the stage where I think we need to crack on. I’ll manage my own risk (avoid crowded indoor venues)but live my life!

Ditto!

Without sounding goady, how can we still not know how it affects older/vulnerable? Surely there must be data from SA by now, plus there must also be older/CEV here also who have had it? I know it generally infects younger first but due to the transmissiblity of omicron I find it hard to believe that there's still "no data"

@TheBlueBear88

Without sounding goady, how can we still not know how it affects older/vulnerable? Surely there must be data from SA by now, plus there must also be older/CEV here also who have had it? I know it generally infects younger first but due to the transmissiblity of omicron I find it hard to believe that there's still "no data"

The demographics are different, the healthcare system is different, vaccine levels are different, and the last big wave in SA was Beta. All these things mean you can't just use their data, although it is not completely useless.

We will know about the UK very soon.

@TheBlueBear88

Without sounding goady, how can we still not know how it affects older/vulnerable? Surely there must be data from SA by now, plus there must also be older/CEV here also who have had it? I know it generally infects younger first but due to the transmissiblity of omicron I find it hard to believe that there's still "no data"

I just wonder if it's now one of those situations where the powers that be now know that this is natures vaccine and the pandemic is going to end a lot quicker than they could have imagined...

I don’t understand that message @bellamountain

[quote Chessie678]@rrhuth
I’m not sure that’s still the case post vaccines. There have been around 18k covid deaths since July. That’s comparable to a bad flu season. Covid pre vaccines had an ifr of 0.5-1% but vaccines have reduced that to 0.1-0.2%. That is similar to flu in some years. Of course there is a difference in terms of how infectious they are but for the vaccinated individual I don’t think the argument that covid is a much more dangerous illness than flu really holds any more.[/quote]
Those numbers are not for Omicron but for Delta? The reduced protection from the vaccine has caused concern, alongside the increased infectiousness.

It's not about avoiding Covid, it's about mitigating Covid. Flatten the curve to protect the NHS, get booster to protect yourself, then vote in a party that will properly fund the NHS so it's more resilient next pandemic.

Ah bless you, @AnyFucker and others, for understanding.

And @TheBlueBear88, I don't think that's a goady question at all. Why isn't the data on how Covid-19 affects the 'critically vulnerable' being published, even if in pre-peer-reviewed form? (By 'cv' I mean the high-end CEV group who are severely immune-compromised - the 500 thousand.)

And the effects of meds on vaccination efficacy - why can I not find any data on that beyond some preliminary findings on antibodies and Rituximab? What about all the other NHS-prescribed biologics and T-cells?

@LookNorthbyNorthWest

It's not about avoiding Covid, it's about mitigating Covid. Flatten the curve to protect the NHS, get booster to protect yourself, then vote in a party that will properly fund the NHS so it's more resilient next pandemic.

Next pandemic 😱

No, it’s the worst scenario to just get it. Why do you think Covid is called a pandemic? But head lice isn’t?

We should all be having Omicron parties like some people do with chicken pox.

It’s called school.

@rrhuth Yes clearly remains to be seen whether omicron changes things but studies are showing that it’s about half as likely to lead to hospitalisation and probably for a shorter stay. Assuming omicron is half as likely to cause death than delta (not sure there’s any data yet) it’s got an IFR of 0.25 - 0.5% without taking into account vaccination. Vaccination almost certainly works a bit at preventing death even if not as well as before (again I don’t think this is known).

There are clearly separate arguments about overwhelming the NHS, but for a vaccinated individual I don’t think the risk posed by covid is much higher than flu. Clearly flu is dangerous to some but very few people significantly limit their lives on an indefinite basis to avoid it.

I think you're not supposed to try to catch anything. I remember a doctor talking about those chicken pox parties, saying that while it's good to get it young you shouldn't try to catch it. It's nice to feel a little less worried about this wave though. I hope it does start to become normal now.

The problem is we don't know long term effects and personally I don't want to condemn my kids to possible heart and chest issues in the future if it can be avoided so we're still being quite cautious.

@stayathomer

The problem is we don't know long term effects and personally I don't want to condemn my kids to possible heart and chest issues in the future if it can be avoided so we're still being quite cautious.

How long will it take to know long term effects? Months? Years?

@nordica

Restrictions have never been to stop people getting it as such, but to stop too many people getting it at the same time because inevitably a small percentage will need hospital treatment. And a small percentage out of a large number is going to be a lot.

This We might all get it but there will still be consequences and we don't want to all get it at once

[quote Chessie678]@rrhuth Yes clearly remains to be seen whether omicron changes things but studies are showing that it’s about half as likely to lead to hospitalisation and probably for a shorter stay. Assuming omicron is half as likely to cause death than delta (not sure there’s any data yet) it’s got an IFR of 0.25 - 0.5% without taking into account vaccination. Vaccination almost certainly works a bit at preventing death even if not as well as before (again I don’t think this is known).

There are clearly separate arguments about overwhelming the NHS, but for a vaccinated individual I don’t think the risk posed by covid is much higher than flu. Clearly flu is dangerous to some but very few people significantly limit their lives on an indefinite basis to avoid it.[/quote]
What impact does the greater infectiousness have on the potential total hospitalisations/deaths vs. flu? In terms of total numbers.

Hmmm. This is one many said to me when my daughter brought it home when husband and i were fully vaccinated. I got incredibly ill and now have long Covid, husband was really ill not as bad as me but now had organ damage and daughter was so exhausted she went straight to bed after school for two months.

All of our classes were classed as mild because we didn’t need a hospital stay overnight.

Future consequences of getting it are unknown but studies raise concerns about organ and neurological issues amongst other things such as changes that can cause Parkinson’s in later life.

So no I don’t think we should all catch it.

Should we be hopeful it will become endemic? Yes! Of course. It will.

Should we force it by trying the failed herd immunity plan and harming hundreds of thousands? No.

Should we learn to live with it by keeping the less disruptive mitigation’s? Yes.

This means masks, hepa ventilation, reduced mixing (ie schools open but no inter year group assemblies for the hell of it). Do all the least intrusive things that keep the spread down. Of course this reduces the risk of worse variants evolving too.

Judging by social media and mumsnet half the country tested positive over Christmas. If I the other half catch it by New year then there would be no point isolating and the jobs done.
I know this is a rather simplistic view but it is how other viruses are felt with by the population. We just don’t test for the other virus infections that sweep the country at this time of year.

Lifeisnteasy
Nobody knows. I'm not saying for people not to live I'm just saying it's possibly better people try not to catch it than for them to assume it's just like a cold and it doesn't matter. Personal choice though- I'm still avoiding pubs and restaurants, I don't go into packed places and I wear a mask but I have friends who would be out and about a lot more and I've no thoughts on it, th ed yve different circumstances to me

@Maddywencelas

Hmmm. This is one many said to me when my daughter brought it home when husband and i were fully vaccinated. I got incredibly ill and now have long Covid, husband was really ill not as bad as me but now had organ damage and daughter was so exhausted she went straight to bed after school for two months.

All of our classes were classed as mild because we didn’t need a hospital stay overnight.

Future consequences of getting it are unknown but studies raise concerns about organ and neurological issues amongst other things such as changes that can cause Parkinson’s in later life.

So no I don’t think we should all catch it.

Should we be hopeful it will become endemic? Yes! Of course. It will.

Should we force it by trying the failed herd immunity plan and harming hundreds of thousands? No.

Should we learn to live with it by keeping the less disruptive mitigation’s? Yes.

This means masks, hepa ventilation, reduced mixing (ie schools open but no inter year group assemblies for the hell of it). Do all the least intrusive things that keep the spread down. Of course this reduces the risk of worse variants evolving too.

Best most honest post I’ve seen on mumsnet.

Really sorry you got long Covid though, a friend of mine is working as a medic in a long Covid centre and they are struggling to help, many neurological issues.

Completely agree with mitigations. Good, fitted masks really help ( a LOT more than cloth ones), ventilation, hepa filters, reduced indoor contacts, weighing up what’s important, and what is just ‘well I went to 5 restaurants/parties/house visits every week so why should I stop?’. We all have to change a bit.

And we ALL have to do everything in our power to stop getting infected. It’s the only strategy worldwide that works for illness, for not closing things, for the economy, for mental health, for everything.

Judging by social media and mumsnet half the country tested positive over Christmas

12,000,000 recorded cases - possibly double at a push of untested or prior to testing -

That still leaves 68,000,000 - 24,000,000 = 44,000,000 people untouched by Covid

That’s a lot of people still to be infected -

@Angrymum22 We just don’t test for the other virus infections that sweep the country at this time of year. we do test, and manage, and plan for all major viruses with the aim of minimising them. We usually rely more on GP and hospital stats, but we follow and track every single virus that has the potential for harm. Even colds!

There is a flu plan every year, with flu vaccines, the type is anticipated and measured. There are flu strategies to keep the levels down otherwise half our older population/vulnerable population would be wiped out every winter.

A lot of viral i factions come with outward signs, chickenpox for example which means kids off school - lots of others for the same reasons, you just accept your children will get these infections.