Are omicron vaccines needed

Pfizer and Moderna, initiated clinical trials with Omicron-based vaccines

Pfizer and Moderna, both announced that they have initiated clinical trials using Omicron-based vaccines

Such high US death rates

At least 63% higher than in other large, wealthy nations

But lower than, Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Greece, Czech Republic

Joseph Dieleman, associate professor University of Washington

The U.S. stands out as having a relatively high fatality rate

There’s been more loss than anyone wanted or anticipated

Despite omicron and vaccination

Factors

Lower vaccination rates and boosters in most vulnerable people

Unvaccinated people make up a majority of hospitalized patients

Waning protection from early vaccinations

Upboosted, uninfected older people

Some deaths after lengthy Delta

Omicron, likely responsible for a majority of current deaths

Robert Anderson, mortality statistics, C.D.C.

And the increases we’re seeing are probably in Omicron deaths

David Dowdy, epidemiologist, Johns Hopkins School of Public Health

We’ve finally started getting to a stage where most of the population has been exposed either to a vaccine or the virus multiple times by now

I think we’re now likely to start seeing things be more synchronized going forward.

Comorbidities

Humoral arm of innate immunity,

includes diverse molecules with antibody-like functions

Some serve as disease severity biomarkers in covid

Human humoral fluid-phase pattern recognition molecules (PRMs)

Of 12 PRMs tested, 2 acted against SARS-CoV-2

Bound to viral nucleocapsid and spike proteins

Mannose-binding lectin (MBL) was predicted to recognize the Omicron VoC

Genetic polymorphisms at the MBL2 locus were associated with disease severity