Omicron variant of concern – Go Retire Psychiatrist

This is just a short message wishing a safe and happy holiday to all. I’m passing readers a couple of links to update information on the Covid-19 Omicron variant and how to stay as safe as possible this winter.

First is the Rounding@Iowa link to the Omicron Variant update. It’s an interview with University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics (UIHC) infectious disease expert, Dr. Patricia Winokur, MD. It’s about a 16 minute interview. Highlights are that it’s important to get the booster for solid protection against variants including Omicron and that the Covid-19 vaccine is, in general, likely to turn out to be a 3-shot vaccine similar to others, such as the Hepatitis and Shingles vaccines.

The other link is to UIHC infectious disease specialist Dr. Daniel Diekema, MD and his thoughts about the Omicron variant. They echo those of Dr. Winokur and the emphasis again is on the importance of getting vaccinated.

Lastly, there is some guidance by UIHC in a graphic below on how to stay safe from getting infected with Covid-19, (whatever the variant) during winter activities. Happy Holidays!

I’ve been seeing news items about the Omicron variant of Covid-19. The CDC only yesterday announced that it is now a Variant of Concern. Other CDC comments are here in a news release. There’s not a lot of solid information yet about how dangerous it is. Most of what I see on the internet are comments about the need for more information. Vaccine manufacturers don’t seem to agree on whether or not current vaccines would be effective against Omicron.

Interestingly, there seem to be about as many news articles about how to pronounce “Omicron” as there are about the variant itself.

When I compare the Omicron news to that of the recently identified Delta plus (AY.4.2) subvariant, I see very few references to the latter after late October. I never saw any CDC indications that the Delta plus was ever a Variant of Concern, although news items generally carried an alarming tone. As the CDC says, there will be variants. So far, as of yesterday, no U.S. cases have been found.