The XBB variant is the main DJ on the dance floor
Brought to you by Ethical Skeptic
So lets break this down. First off, as of New Years Eve, case counts were trending down for covid. (I will take into account there could have been less testing given the holiday week). But what is notable here are a few things.
Look at the sharp uptick in the XBB cases. They have been on a huge increase since Thanksgiving.
Look at the complete fizzle out on the BA variants. You know, the variants that the newest omicron booster was supposed to protect from? They were dropping before the vaccine ever came out. And they have plummeted (as predicted) and intersect with the dramatic rise of XBB lineage in mid October 2022. The talking head mainstream media will claim that the omicron booster was a success but remember, roughy 5% of Americans took that booster.
Loot at the cohort of greatest positive cases for the XBB variant family? Those who have been vaccinated in the last 0-5months. Those who got the omicron booster. Look at the bottom for the unvaccinated…….very small proportion of vaccine cases. As are those who last vaxxed 12+ months ago.
Anecdotally, those that I know personally/professionally that are sick with a covid positive test right now are recently omicron boostered. They are also much sicker than I was with Omicron a year ago.
Very interesting and informative article. As usual. Thank you!
Question - how do we know if someone got the XBB variant? Those that I know that got sick recently took a home test. How do they gather the variant statistics? Thx!