Ask HN: If omicron ends the pandemic, what lessons should we learn from this? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: If omicron ends the pandemic, what lessons should we learn from this?

4 pointsamichail9 comments

Omicron will not end the pandemic. All the previous variants are still in circulation and evolving. It's only going to get worse because the more variants are in circulation the more chances the virus has of evolving. Eventually there will be several overlapping waves of infections each with a different variant so that people might even get sick from a combination of different variants at once.

The only way out of this was all the way in the beginning when we had a chance of stopping it through lockdowns and vaccination but that's no longer an option. The virus is spreading faster than our vaccine manufacturing and uptake capabilities. This virus is here to stay, it has become endemic.

It's also not surprising. This is exactly what ecological theory would predict for a monoculture. See what's happening to bananas with tropical race 4 infections.

>>Eventually there will be several overlapping waves of infections each with a different variant so that people might even get sick from a combination of different variants at once.<<

it is possible for delta and omicron [and or others] to recombine genetic features, how probable is the million dollar question at the time

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_recombination#RNA_viru...

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinfection

Ya, I'm willing to bet money this is going to happen. It's pretty much guaranteed at this point since there is evidence now that Omicron picked up DNA from the common cold. [1]

1: https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/omicron-possibly-m...

More vaccines won't make much difference because of original biological sin. Omicron is outcompeting delta and milder, that is the beginning of the end, although it may take 1-2 further high transmissibility and low virulence variance to see the actual end.

It's not going to end. It's going to evolve and it's going to continue killing people. We're stuck with it.

> It's also not surprising. This is exactly what ecological theory would predict for a monoculture. See what's happening to bananas with tropical race 4 infections.

What comparison are you trying to make...? Are we similar to bananas?

Yes, due to globalisation

It's not a perfect analogy but yes, we are like bananas. We should expect all future viral outbreaks to have similar effects. The moment Omicron was detected in the UK I knew it had already reached the US. There is no way to contain outbreaks in a global technocracy. Detection will always be too late.

That we trust institutions and fame too much, over individual choice.

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