I have a lot questions? Why are we still dealing with this? Did the spanish flu last for three years and 5+ waves? They didn't even have vaccines at all! Have our attempts to slow the spread prolonged the pain? Is this thing actually engineered in a way to make it worse over time?
I only have a BS in Biology, so I am no genius, but everything I was taught about viruses is that they tend to evolve into less deadly, more contagious, variants in order to maximize their "survival". Why does this one not follow that trend?
Why do scientists name these variants like they are Bond or Metal Gear Solid Villains?
1. We're still dealing with this because it's a coronavirus. I bet you likely get a cold every year and that is a version of coronavirus. They all mutate and change. The difference is that this one is particularly deadly.
2. The Spanish flu is still around. So it's not 3 years. It's 103 years and counting.
3. I don't know if we're prolonging it. With how quickly we came out with vaccines we may have changed what variants propagated vs natural immunity responses.
4. No? Everything I've seen so far is that these variants are becoming weaker.
5. This one is following that trend. All reports thus far is that omicron is causing milder sickness at least in people who are fully vaccinated. The difference is that it has the ability to get around some of our protections but you're not winding up in a hospital on a ventilator. A lot of people are just getting a headache and the sniffles.
6. They're just using greek letters. Hell of a lot better than remembering if it's variant B.1.1.7 vs B.1.617.2.