But Omicron, which is highly transmissible but often less severe than Delta, surged fast and faded with equal speed. Cases peaked in the worst-hit countries over the past couple weeks and are now dropping fast. In the U.S., new infections peaked at around 800,000 a day last week before declining to 700,000 a day a few days later.
Scientists have named 46 coronaviruses so far. Most reside in animal populations; bats, pangolins, tropical cat-like animals called civets. Any one of these animal viruses could leap to the human species–and a bunch already have. Humanity has suffered through outbreaks of SARS-CoV-1, MERS and now SARS-CoV-2. “Why wouldn’t there be a SARS-CoV-3?” Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, told The Daily Beast.
A team of scientists at Duke, led by Haynes and his colleague Kevin Saunders, was one of the first to get to work on a universal vaccine, back in the spring of 2020. After months of work, they found an especially powerful antibody in a sample from someone who had recovered from a SARS-CoV-1 infection back in 2003.
The National Institutes of Health has awarded the Duke team funding to begin manufacturing the antibody. Not only could it form the basis of a powerful, pan-COVID vaccine–it could also be the key ingredient in a new,A team led by Kayvon Modjarrad at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research in Maryland is working on its own universal vaccine–and has also shown.
The promise of a universal vaccine is that, while potentially less effective overall, it won’t lose effectiveness even as the various coronaviruses it combats mutate in an effort to thwart it.
Why anyone would look at the progression of variants from the inception of COVID and surmise that it would cease mutating is stupefying to me. They’re betting on it. But then again a lot of Americans think going to casinos is a good idea.
that's about as worrisome as the threat of unicorns and leprechauns. Only a dem would be scared of the sniffles.
Then it's here to stay what you going to do about it? Post more paranoid shit on Twitter?
Vaccines aren't keeping up. as much as I hate to say it. Let it go endemic and the strong will survive. or at least the more isolated and hygienic.
if facebook was shut down when it was spreading misinformation, this whole mess could have been controlled and contained faster.