‘Epidemiologically speaking,
the unvaccinated should be separated from the vaccinated to protect the latter from getting infected with newer strains.’
THE subvariant of Omicron, BA.2, nicknamed “Stealth Omicron,” is 1.5 times more rapidly transmissible than Omicron. From the original SARS-CoV2 corona virus that originated in Wuhan, China, the virus had mutated to the Delta variant, to Omicron, DeltaCron (now determined to be insignificant or an error) to the new subvariant “Stealth Omicron,” first detected in early December 2021 and now in 49 countries, foremost in India, Denmark, South Africa, and the United Kingdom. While the Omicron underwent 50 mutations, the Stealth Omicron had 90 mutations, mostly in the bodies of unvaccinated individuals.
There are more than 100 cases in the United States, in at least 20 states. This new sub-strain appears not to be any more dangerous than Omicron, which itself is highly transmissible and milder (not mild) compared to the Delta variant.
The two shots plus a booster do not totally prevent acquiring the BA.2 strain but are effective in minimizing the severity, hospitalization, and death from both the Omicron and its new subvariant BA.2. The unvaccinated are mostly the ones who are sitting ducks for Omicron and the BA.2 subvariant.
When all the unvaccinated get infected (hopefully with Omicron, which would be milder), they would get some natural immunity, but not against newer variants in the future. Those vaccinated persons who get infected will acquire a super “hybrid” immunity, more protective than vaccines alone or infection alone.
590,000 cases, 2600 deaths
There were 2600 deaths last Friday (Jan. 28) alone, as the number of cases reached an average of around 590,000 a day in the US, down from 800,000 two weeks before. The hospitalization and death were down, compared to the Delta period. But the daily cases are massively higher. In the meantime, more than 10 billion doses of the COVID-19 vaccines have been administered worldwide, albeit gaps remain for third-world countries. In the US, about 63.1 percent of the population has been vaccinated, only 26.1 had the booster shot.
Israel leads the world, with more than 84 percent of people aged 70 and older having received at least the two shots, which resulted in a rapid decline of COVID-19 cases, with a similar result in dozens of other countries. There is no more question about the efficacy and safety of the vaccines. There are 35 COVID-19 vaccines under clinical trials.
European vax mandate
There are still at least 50 million people in the US refusing to get vaccinated, in spite of the more than 10 billion doses administered around the world proving how safe the vaccines are. The virus will continue to replicate and mutate in the bodies of people, mostly in the unvaccinated, which will super-spread new strains they produce in their bodies to people around them. And the cycle will continue viciously. Without a warm body host, the virus will instantly self-destruct and the pandemic will come to a halt.
Knowing this and with the massive surges of COVID-19 in his country, French President Emmanuel Macron vowed to “piss-off” the unvaccinated to make life uncomfortable for them by restricting their access to restaurants, stores, theaters, and other public areas, in order to curb the spread of COVID-19 and end the pandemic soonest.
Macron is running for re-election in April 2022, and these words and actions clearly show his great leadership, wisdom, and courage in protecting his nation and people, even at the peril of his own career and personal safety.
Mandatory vaccinations (national lockdown for the unvaccinated) are also being introduced in several European countries, with Austria leading the way for over 15 countries also planning compulsory vaccinations for their citizens starting this February. These actions are an acknowledgment that faithful application of science (epidemiology) in its purest sense, not politics, is what will destroy killer viruses and end the pandemic.
I applaud President Macron and the leaders of the European countries for their Solomonic decision. In the United States, political correctness and people’s wrong interpretation of what civil liberties and freedom mean as guaranteed by the First Amendment is enabling the rapid spread of viruses. Those who refuse the vaccines, claiming their right to refuse and do what they want (freedom to mingle with the public and spread the virus to others), under the United States Constitution, are obviously misinterpreting the First Amendment rights.
As I have posted before, while they have the right to refuse the vaccines, risk, or kill themselves, they do not have the right to spread the virus and kill others, albeit unintentionally. National safety and well-being supersede and prevail over individual freedom and liberty.
Epidemiologically speaking, the unvaccinated should be separated from the vaccinated to protect the latter from getting infected with newer strains. Just like in any infectious disease section of a hospital, where patients with infectious diseases are segregated from others to prevent the spread of the disease, and where sterile instruments are separated and protected from contaminated ones. It’s simply common sense.
So, if those who refuse the vaccines stayed home and not spread the virus to others, then their exercise of the freedom to refuse would be well within their rights under the Constitution.
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Philip S. Chua, MD, FACS, FPCS, a Cardiac Surgeon Emeritus based in Northwest Indiana and Las Vegas, Nevada, is an international medical lecturer/author, a Health Public Advocate, and Chairman of the Filipino United Network-USA, a 501(c)3 humanitarian and anti-graft foundation in the United States. Visit our websites: philipSchua.com and FUN8888.com Email: scalpelpen@gmail.com
