Weddings are becoming increasingly popular in 2022, with many couples canceling or rescheduling due to the Omicron variant. To keep guests and couples safe during this time, it is essential to consider the following planning considerations:
1. Keep your guests vaccinated and boosters.
2. Consider electronic-only wedding communications.
3. Consider electronic-only wedding invitations.
4. Avoid printing guidelines on masks on invitations.
5. Consider a classic cruise experience instead of relying on every event and signature activity being open.
6. Be cautious in tracking vaccinations among guests and COVID tests.
7. If your destination wedding is outside, create a bio bubble and don’t leave the hotel premises.
8. Gather outdoors if possible, but consider alternative sites at your venue if possible.
9. If you are not requiring vaccination among guests, request everyone get a COVID test before attending your wedding.
10. If you want to go to a wedding but still worried about the pandemic, an expert at a Johns Hopkins-led webinar explains how.
In conclusion, planning for your wedding ahead of time can help tackle many unseen situations and encourage couples to firefight any situation that might come their way. It is crucial to be vigilant in tracking vaccinations, testing, and ensuring the safety of all attendees during the Omicron variant.
📹 Should I worry about the Omicron COVID variant?
Professor Tim Spector, Lead Investigator on the ZOE COVID Symptom study unpacks everything we know about the new COVID …
📹 Omicron reducing intensive care admissions
Big time, (at least in the UK, not so much in the US) Cases down, but not necessarily infections Confirmed government case data …
Data management is excellent in South Africa. The country is also extremely open regarding all its Covid related data. The doctor who discovered Omicron and several others are saying that, so far, this is presenting in patients as a mild form of the disease. Common side effects seem to be a cough, ‘scratchy sore throat and aching bones.
Hey Prof. Spector how about getting onto those in power to change vaccination protocol to aspirate the needle. This was common practice for intramuscular injections. This would ensure no blood vessel is being hit, the vaccine not directly entering the blood system, and thus not potentially causing thromboses.
Local guidance has said we all need to start wearing masks in shops again after tomorrow. My Dad asked if I wanted to go to the Pantomime in two weeks time and when I looked at the theatre’s website they didn’t have any covid restrictions in place so I declined whereas the theatre near me has every precaution in place.
If the Omicron variant was to quickly spread in concurrence with the Delta variant’s slow decline then the use of PCR tests which do not detect the S-protein rejection may become problematic to the extent that the spread of the new variant may be increased. People will need to know for sure which variant they have because many will believe that if they haven’t been told they have been infected with the Omicron variant then they won’t be carrying it. Reports suggest that the current UK PCR testing system only has about half the capacity to potentially identify the new variant at the time of the test because only 50% of tests can detect the s-protein rejection which would point to the probable presence of the Omicron variant. If half or so of individuals are told they may have the variant the other half will assume otherwise and then we’re left with infections being driven by human behaviour based on poor public health communication. This happened with the use of lateral flow tests. This time the consequences of unclear messaging could potentially be more problematic.
“There have been some claims that Omicron infections mean milder cases, but lags between infection and attending hospital make this difficult to assess rapidly and hospital admissions with positive tests are rising in Gauteng province. Like compounding interest, increased transmissibility means more cases generation after generation and even a reduced share going to hospital may still result in more admissions. And an extraordinarily rapid analysis indicates the risk of reinfection is substantially higher than in its first wave.” (David Spiegelhalter is chair of the Winton Centre for Risk and Evidence Communication at Cambridge. Anthony Masters is statistical ambassador for the Royal Statistical Society)
I’m wondering if those mutations beyond the common ones that have been seen frequently in other successful variants and known to allow more transmission and infectivity are just “noise” and non-impactful to the virus’ operation – albeit acting to making it less recognisable by spike-focused anti-bodies. If these mutations were materially “useful” wouldn’t we have seen them cropping up time and time again in other variants? Should any “adjusted” vaccines also target NME proteins too to make them less vulnerable to mutations of the S proteins? Maybe an old-fashioned “inactivated virus” vaccine might be a good idea at this time?
Let’s pretend we are the viruses and not the hosts for a while. The mutations occur randomly so variants pop up all the time. This is our very own nature. Some variants are defective in the ability to infect a cell, others to make copies of their genes and they disappear. Other variants gain new abilities and might be more efficient in infecting or making copies of their genes. These variants will compete with each other and the ones that best fit the purpose of infection/reproduction will spread through people’s respiratory (maybe other) fluids. As long as people keep exchanging their body fluids, we (the viruses) will keep evolving and causing many casualties (humans), but we will make sure they spread us before they die so we don’t face extinction. Which ones will be the casualties depend on their own level of responsibility/stupidity. Eventually some of us will have mutations that allow us to infect, reproduce, and stay hidden in some humans or other animals without causing too much fuss. Now and then we will cause some fuss though, it’s in our ever changing nature. By the way, we (the viruses) hate social distancing, masks and clean hands. Vaccines? They’re a pain in the arse but as long as some people can’t or won’t have them, we will survive.
It’s possible this variant is going through my sons class. My son is now ill and has very similar symptoms to his classmate. Started with a headache and high temperature but not extremely high. And felt tired and dizzy. Day 2 – headache and temp was gone, sore throat started and very lethargic. Day 3 – sore throat, dizziness lifted and looking much better. His friend was very similar with 2-3 days of symptoms. No loss of taste or smell, no cold, no cough, no respiratory issues. We live in South Africa.
From what I have heard thus far, this new variant appears to have mild symptoms. I wonder how we define mild or moderate? For example, about eight years ago, I lost my job and health insurance, so could not get a flu shot. I ended up getting whatever strain of flu was going around at the time and the symptoms were so horrible that I truly thought I was going to die. It took me almost a month to recover, as was the case with many others in my social circle. Although I did not end up in the hospital, I did see a doctor, had a positive flu test and was given Tamiflu. My personal misery and that of my friends and colleagues certainly did not make news headlines, but I wonder if our symptoms would have been classified as mild or moderate?
Why does C19vaccination frequency take such prominence? It does not stop spread, long Covid or risk of infection, only advanced C19 disease phase & death, Why is proof of previous C19 infection not considered as equivalent to vaccination? Why are safe, antivirals with multiple, known mechanisms of action not used as part of C19control strategy together with vaccination?
I’m not sure I want to “avoid catching omicron”. Once you’re vaccinated, if you’re young and healthy I think it’s probably approaching your duty to catch Covid and improve your own immune response. If it’s endemic, avoidance is ultimately unsustainable. There’s a finite amount of “catching it” needs to happen and I’m happy to do my bit.
Could you clarify your pinned status description – do you broadcast on an official state basis, or a quasi official” one. Or on an “unofficial” or other private basis? Also please which parties precisely fund your Study that you lead ? And in view of the seeming political implications that have arisen could you do a piece (if not done already) on how PCR distinguishes between flu/cold symptoms and Covid, if at all?
Isn’t there an interest in the vaccine makers to keep this thing going? This morning on TV the boss of one of the big companies said they could tweak the current vacine to suit this variant at great cost to the government. What happened at the start of the pandemic when one big pharma company said they would produce and distribute vacine at cost?
You were the first touch when I came into the world. You have been my anchor my rock my home, the seat of all that is in my universe. We haven’t always seen eye too eye, sometimes I ignored you, sometimes I even abused you, even punished you for not working well. But you reminded me at first gently with aches then more strongly with pain if I ignored you. You reminded me that I couldn’t live fully without you, that you needed my attention. I treat you mostly with kindness, give you the food that you like, that makes you feel strong and vital. I have shared you with others and we have joined momentarily as one and felt it as love. You are the home of our collective human history, the library of all our knowledge, you are the physical vision to the world. The state has no power to change this, no law can rule over you, no decision, you are my body, my most precious joy, the time machine in which I travel
No! is the simple answer. Unless you are in one of the ‘at risk’ groups then get vaccinated. Reasoning – Worry (is a type of fear) can cause more fear and many (no matter how qualified/professional/expert they appear to be) will NOT tell you that Fear (any type) will shut down your immune system FAST!
Dr Campbell, I don’t usually comment on You Tube articles. But I wanted to thank you for your honesty and integrity during the last two years. My entire family tested positive recently. All but one of us were fully jabbed but no booster. We all had a relatively mild case. Along with the jabs, I feel that your recommendation regarding Vit D helped us all to do very well. By the way, all of us have several comorbidities- obesity, hbp, etc. yet most had nothing more than a bad cold. Thank you for what you do. Don’t feel discouraged by those who would stifle public discourse. You have done a great deal to educate and add to the conversation in a positive way. Be proud of that.
As an ER medical doctor myself, I applaud you for the work you have done on this website Dr. Campbell. Objective, evidence based scientific information supported with educated theories is not something easily accesible in the world we live in these days. Much love and appriciation from Istanbul, Turkey. 🙂
I am a recently retired cardio-thoracic surgeon from South Australia. In that role I was involved in the acute resuscitation of many patients over the years, including those suffering from acute swine flu. I have been in a position to listen with interest, to your daily briefs on SARS-COV-2. I have also been in a position to listen to other brilliant sources of information such as Vincent Racaniello, Ph.D TWiV. It is my personal opinion that your Youtube website provides an important source of information because of your perspective as a senior Intensive Care Nurse and Educator. You clearly have skin in the game, and an ability to deliver common sense information in an understandable format. It is my opinion that your website is an highly valuable resource. Thank you for all you do
Thank you Dr John, as a former nurse and someone who is immunosuppressed you have been a reliable and supportive source of information during the pandemic. You have helped to keep me sane and safe and I am sure protected and saved many lives. Ignore the nay sayers, just people looking to lift their profile by using sensationalism instead of steady strong facts that help others. They are only interested in helping themselves. Thank you so much Dr John. You can never know how much you have meant to so many people. Thank you, thank you 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
I am home with Omicron as I write this. I was fine when I woke up Wednesday morning and went to work. I put on my mask, like I’m mandated to, and went to my classroom. I taught my 1st through 3rd period classes without any problems. However, by 4th period, I was starting to have aches and pains all over my body. By 7th period, I was so tired I was fighting to stay awake. I asked my administrators if I could go home and was told to stay since I didn’t have a fever. Well, my temperature never did get above 98, but I tested positive for the virus anyway. I had myself tested at two different facilities, in two different counties, and they both came back positive. The aches and pains got worse all day Wednesday. I also had a headache, runny nose, congestion and sneezing to go with the pain and fatigue. Thursday morning the pain was gone, but the sinus issues persisted. By today, Friday, the only thing still bothering me is the runny nose and congestion; and even they are improving. Honestly, it was like having a 24-48 hr flu without the fever. I had COVID back in September too. Between the two, this one has been easier on my body. And no, I have no clue which variants I’ve had. The symptoms were the same both times, they just lasted longer the first time. Oh, and I haven’t lost my sense of smell or taste like last time either. Here’s hoping that I don’t.
Hello from Canada!! Find it incredible that your information has been called into question, your “talks” have been the only source of REAL data that I’ve seen/heard since I started listening to your updates. Have tried to convince other people/friends to listen, but people just don’t get it 🙁 Thanks John, keep them coming!!!!!!!
Its because of you Dr.Campbell that I still have an ounce of faith in medical professionals. Big pharma, politics never had my respect or trust and I think Covid has really put a spot light on the biased opinions of media and our health care professionals but as long as people like you continue to apply the stats, science and unbiased approach to your profession…I have hope!
I’m overweight but I do have an under active thyroid. I gained 20 lbs without changing my diet at all when I had sudden onset menopause. I hurt my back while taking care of my mom before she died. I never eat fast food. We never go out to eat unless we’re on the road and have to. I stay on a low carb diet with no gluten. I have lost 7 lbs but it was hard. I ride a stationary bike and lay on the bed and do some exercise. That’s all I can do with my back. Just letting people know it’s not always about eating
The reason I watch this website is because Dr. Campbell does such a good job explaining his sources along with his analysis. The criticism from the BBC was such a disappointment. A lot of us in the States believe the BBC has significantly better journalism than the corporate crap we have in our country. It was disappointing to be proven wrong.
Thank you so much for emphasize that Omicron is milder for the unvaccinated population also. There are so many misinformation in my country’s media (Brazil) about this subject, in order to induce people to get vaccinated by fear of going to ICU. I’m unvaccinated (34yo) and I got Covid recently, with mild simptoms and I recovered very well. Thanks for your excellent work!
As a U.S Citizen who went to elementary school during the 60’s and 70’s, I can tell you how the obesity in children happened. Schools have decreased significantly time for recess and lunch time, few have physical fitness time or PE (structured by a teacher). When I was a kid we also had after school playtime, and lots of free activities to choose from baseball teams, soccer teams etc etc. Few children ride bikes to school or are even allowed out to play for fear of kidnapping etc. All of that has contributed to child obesity.
Thanks Dr. John for your relentlessly work on showing and reading the evidence. When this madness started, I decided to remain abroad, in Morocco. I had my 3 Rd dose here on the last December 30th. I think this country deserves your attention for the amazing management of this looooong crisis. All the best.
At the beginning of the pandemic I had great hope that the silver lining might be that people would come to recognize the importance of healthy living and especially the central role that adequate sunshine (vitamin D3) plays in their health. When you look at the major co-morbidities affecting COVID-19 outcomes and compare them to the top five health conditions caused by vitamin D deficiency, it makes you wonder how many lives have been needlessly lost with still no official guidance from our government agencies on proactive preventative health measures when the science is clearly there. Tragic really…
I began teaching in Primary schools in 1992 and there were only a handful of children with weight problems back then in every school I worked in, and that was the UK. It was very rare to have an overweight child in Year 6 (10 and 11 year olds). By the time I left teaching in 2014, there was on average, half of the Year 6 struggling with weight, a significant percentage seriously. It saddened me to see what society and the fast food corporations had done, but they couldn’t be fully blamed for that change. Media and advertising of course but just as importantly, parenting was a factor. It is a huge problem and obviously more so in the US. Everyone has the absolute right never to be discriminated in any way for their weight, health, addictions etc, but sadly, a massive deterioration in health and a overwhelmed immune system comes alongside this issue. The vaccine WONT fix this, it can’t. This issue goes much, much deeper, decades deeper even. That’s where people need to be focusing support and guidance. 🙏
Thank You Dr John. I just love you and what you offer society. You have eased my anxiety ever since the first time I watched your podcast. All the different opinions and fear provoking noise that comes with no data is damaging. You are honest, unbiased and backed up with facts. I wish everyone would find the time to educate themselves. A Unified approach using Data and truth would result in a more successful outcome. We all need to support our talented and highly educated medical community to feel free to share their knowledge and free to debate. I hope the medical society doesn’t feel hesitant to voice their knowledge so they can do what they spent their lives achieving. The ability to save lives and better the health of us all. Thanks again.
John: you’re a consistantly reliable source of information on the pandemic. Hopefully, your audience can also see that you can only skirt around the issue of why the USA has such terrible mortality for such a sophisticated medical system. We can clearly read between the lines knowing what would happen to your podcasts if you cross YouTube guidelines. Keep up the great work.
Your articles have been a source of unbiased, current research explained in an easy-to-understand form with a global point of view. I’m a retired nurse/psychiatric nurse practitioner in the Ozarks region of the U.S. My husband and I watch you regularly. I agree with your view on healthcare in the U.S, which is, for the most part, based on the business model. In my view, this is capitalism at its worst. Fortunately, our older population is fairly well taken care of due to Medicare. Disabled and people below the poverty line are usually eligible for Medicaid. Thank God we have these programs. We need universal health care in the U. S. to cover our very important working population: ages 18 to 65, and this is especially true of the 55 to 65 group when job security is not as great and chronic conditions become more prominent. So proud of you, Dr. John, as a fellow nurse, to see a nurse educator and doctoral level nurse doing such a good job explaining research so well to the general population around the world. Your work is so essential.
I am in the UK; in the 70s when I was in secondary school, there was only one girl in my class of 30 who was not slim. I bet that is not the case in today’s classes. Junk food has a lot to answer for. Love your dry wit and sarcasm. I will miss you when the pandemic is over. It would be nice if you maintained this website and covered other issues of personal interest to you. I am sure they would interest others too. It doesn’t have to be done every day (that would wear you out); just whenever you felt you had something to say, even if it was once a month or so.
I agree wholeheartedly with all of the positive comments on the page today. How you have helped so many, in such a calm, measured way for so long. And your information has been based on valid and verifiable data wherever possible. I wish those responsible for running the country were as open and honest, and committed to following the data! You are, and have been, my “go to” for nearly 2 years. I cannot thank you enough. You rock!
John, I love your website. you are giving and explaining actual data and letting folks make decisions for themselves based on the information. That is the same for the health issues here in the U.S. Folks make choices everyday…in their lifestyle – exercise, how much they eat and what, how hectic (busy) are their lives, etc. Many of the health issues are because of these poor choices….also there are low income folks that eat a lot of fast food and that does not lead to good health outcomes (I am not blaming them, they are on a tight budget). When you go to a restaurant here, they give folks 2x as much food generally as they need….make a choice to take half of it home…we found out during the pandemic how many folks eat in a restaurant one meal or more EVERY DAY…..take time to eat at home! Alot of this comes down to choices and personal freedoms. There are many of us here in the US that do take care of ourselves…see a doc regularly (contrary to popular opinion, most folks do have access to health care or can get it fairly easily, they just don’t care to)
We are ever so grateful that you took up the reporting of the Covid pandemic with your plain talking ways, when you did. I was already perusal your series on the heart when it began. I have a pacemaker, with no end of problems. I won’t go in to it all here. Just grateful for both reports, as, i believe it made me aware, during it all, just how vulnerable I was/am. So far, so good, and you helped explain it all. Thank you for your no bullsh*t reports, and analysis.
Regardless of your detractors you, John Campbell and Roger Seheult, MD in California are still far and above others who report pandemic information. In the event that you report information that is not correct, to any degree, you report it live in your daily forums. You do not attempt to defend what you incorrectly report or explain it away. Rather, you do the right thing: report it, explain it and apologize, as soon as you validate it. That sir is integrity. Keep on keeping on.
When I went to your medrxiv link, I got “Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron VOC subvariants BA.1 and BA.2: Evidence from Danish Households”. This first topic you have already talked about for the last 6 weeks. So I put in your title, it led to an article by Jonas Herby, Lars Jonung, and Steve H. Hanke in SAE./No.200/January 2022, Studies in Applied Economics. The second article would need 15 hours of study for this brain to comprehend enough to say if I agree or not with its conclusion. I hope you do that work and enlighten us.
As usual, I find your analysis ahead of the curve. Here in the Philippines, the nation experienced a large spike in cases in early January. Cases have come down significantly since then. Testing here is nowhere like in Denmark, but my sense is that the omicron has become the dominant variant. Rates of hospitalization and IC care remains relatively low (about 20%). As things stand, I am grateful for the vaccine when delta was raging. However, as omicron takes over, I am sitting on the fence over the need to vaccinate the kids. Am thinking that I should let the omicron run through our home and depend on natural immunity. On a more serious note, I am re-evaluating our life style behaviors and making gradual changes. I think in the end your articles have helped place us in a very good place with regard to the worst of the covid and moving us toward a healthier future.
Thanks for pointing out dietary consequences. I think the US may be the canary in the coal mine when it comes to poor dietary health. Prior to Covid, we traveled internationally a lot. And in the last few years, I have been shocked at how much high fat, low nutrition foods, and more overweight people were present worldwide. A few decades ago the situation was quite different. This does not bode well for the health of future generations. Hopefully, we can educate people and reverse this trend.
My former husband died from the complications of morbid obesity, caused by a “generational curse” of poor eating habits. It is terribly sad that, here in the States especially, inappropriate focus on food has become for many a substitute for things that are missing. We really must do better. Perhaps, if we continue to tell the truth about the correlation of comorbidity to death rates, people can learn to change.
Lots of us in the States have been talking about obesity for a long time. This pandemic has certainly highlighted it. However we all make our choices and those who are obese made theirs. Some people have hormone issues but others are just not exercising and perusal what they eat. High blood pressure runs in my family. I am 54 and exercise 3-4 days a week. I had Covid in April 2021, never went to hospital but had a rough time. I can only imagine someone in worse shape than me. So yes obesity is a problem but individuals are the ones who have to change that.
In Canada, we’ve basically been told if we have any symptoms at all, we should assume we have it and isolate. They have largely limited testing to health care providers and immunocompromised people. Cases are vastly under-reported. However, I watched a report by a virologist in Toronto yesterday who said that waste-water samples there do seem to still point to cases going down. Hospitalizations have just started going down too. (Montreal)
An excellent report and for me clearer because of the use of percentages. My wife runs a hospital and has a more professional view of covid 19, however, she cannot comment as I can so thank you for the brilliant professional work that you are doing . Please keep up the great work for all our sakes. I believe that you are unique in your comments. Ty so much.
Dear Dr. Campell, I`m a medical Docotor and worked in intensive care units as well as in science for a long time. and although I believe, that I’m very well informed by my own pubmed research… even though (please excuse my bad english:). I always loved and appreciated your well prepared and scientificly solid information. Thank you very much and I wish you all the best and good health.
Thank you, Dr. Campbell, for going through all this with us. I so appreciate you time, intelligence, and kindness. I too, wish that food and drink manufacturers would put profit ahead of greed…all evidence to the contrary. I look forward to your break down of the lock down study. Take care from Manitoba, Canada (woke to -27’C with a stiff breeze, too cold for walking)
The more audience members you have Dr Campbell the more critic you’ll get, so please don’t let them discourage you! You’re doing an excellent job in providing data for 2 years now! Every day! I’ve put your name out of curiosity in YT search yesterday and saw that some YouTubers are even estimating how much you’re earning on this website, as if there was anything wrong if you did! Less popular YouTubers may be just trying to debunk things you’re saying as they know they’ll gain views and comments, they may know how to encourage people to defend you (which people do in a large number). They get a response and the YT algorithm will push their articles higher in the feed/searches and they will become more popular.. All the best and thank you again for your support
Only recently found your website but enjoying it very much. Yesterday you mentioned the John Hopkins article on the meta-analysis into the efficacy of lock downs in terms of death reduction. I’ve briefly looked at this myself but am really looking forward to your analysis, which I hope is coming soon.
Thanks for this update Doctor Campbell. Much appreciated as always. Sadly, many of your critics (in the comments) are not actually perusal any of your articles and are just professional trolls. They don’t care what information you present they have their own agenda. We mostly ignore them and so should you.
Thank you for your talk. I agree with Pitchfork in his assessment about weight issues here in US. Very perplexing, especially this year, that there are very few advertisements for weight loss programs, equipment, etc. Usually at the new year it’s always been about lifestyle changes. It would make sense, given the data about comorbity that the CDC, NY State Department of Health( I live in NY state) would be stressing getting healthier. I’m in my late 50’s and consider myself to be “fat” compared to my 20’s, but people that I work with right now that are in their 20’s are larger than I and tell me that I’m tiny. People avoid exercise even walking to their mailbox. I am one of only A few people in a large office that walks every day at lunchtime. I hope that one thing to come out of this is to live healthier. I guess time will tell.
Hey John, I am a 27 year old male without any comorbities living in Germany. I am unvaccinated. I dont want to get vaccinated because of many reasons. Germany has had really strict rules for Unvaccinated people. All i am Allowed to do at the moment is go to work. There are many things that i am not allowed to do for example: – I play football and all my teammates who are Vaccinated are allowed to play and train but i am not allowed because of my status even though it is outside. -I have to test myself at teststations everyday so that i can go to work. -If a vaccinated person gets Omicron and gives it to an Unvaccinated person, the vaccinated person will be payed for quarantining, but the Unvaccinated person doesnt get his salary whilst quarantining. -I pay money for my gym and i am not allowed to go inside. -I am not allowed to go into shops other than supermarkets for food. Those are a few examples of the discrimination going on in Germany. Do you think that these restrictions for Unvaccinated people in this omicron wave makes sense. The government is not yet even thinking of lifting any of these restrictions.
Dr Campbell, profit over health is definitely the dominant business ethic in the US, and our government does nothing to intervene because this industry provides a lot of funding for government agencies that should be policing said industry. There you go, it’s a similar situation to the pharma industry’s hold on government.
As in the UK, the availability of RATs (LFTs) in Australia is improving. In Australia, the TGA regulates which test kits can be sold here and publishes data on which ones are at what level of effectiveness: > 80% sensitivity – Acceptable > 90% sensitivity – High sensitivity > 95% sensitivity – Very High Sensitivity At least in NSW and Victoria, positive RAT tests are legally required to be reported and are included in daily case number reports. PCR and RAT test numbers are differentiated. In NSW, parents are issued 2 tests per student per week (issued fortnightly). In the first week back to school, reports of 3000 students across the state testing positive. TGA has been accepting Manufacturers’ reports of sensitivity of RAT tests including self testing kits. However, arrangements have been made to start testing them independently. They are also reporting Manufacturers’ results for detection of variants. Many on this table are Point of Care tests, not self tests, some only report up to Delta. The brand I bought is listed as Very High sensitivity, but is not currently listed in relation to detecting variants.
Thank you as always Dr. John. I watch you’re articles everyday. And/or when ever a new one comes on. I have learned so much from them, and fully appreciate you’re professional manner and clarity in explaining everything so well. Bravo! By the Way I like you’re Dog on the Shelf. I can hardly wait for the day when he can take it off. 😄 😍 Freedom Dog 🐶 🇺🇸
Thank you again Dr. Campbell. Over 2 years with you as one of my main learning streams. Such a great teacher!! In Ontario, Canada, they all but told us that if we have symptoms of any kind we should just stay home. Not enough tests. There was a blitz just before Christmas giving them away in liquor stores and 3 or 4 per primary school child and such. So guess what? We ran out right away. Good intended plan poorly executed?? I would like to think so. They may have felt that people needed to feel safer getting together when last years was horribly handled…by everyone! I feel like there has been such a lack of personal responsibility to try and learn from people like you Sir. I live in northern Ontario and people here where there was much less infection (found), so there seemed to be more complacency. I personally have tried really really hard to keep people safe…distance…lots of cleaning…staying away from people who are at risk…double jabbed. It’s hard to deliver the message without ridicule. Like with the aspiration…I can’t believe it doesn’t look like our health officials don’t want to look into it…would it take that much really?? In fairness, it’s hard for lots of people to do the same however they are on a click away from learning from you or Dr. Seheult or Dr. Kory or anyone who it’s easy to see have our best interest at heart. So I can’t speak for the rest of Canada but if they decided to not basically test unless they have to and no interest in recording cases or infection.
I completely agree. Cases are largely an indicator of your PCR testing. During the holidays everyone was testing in order to obtain travel clearance. I know 10 people who got omicron over the past two weeks but all got diagnosed from home test kits and by symptoms. So they never ended up in the data. However hospitalizations is something measurable.
In my country (Serbia) deaths and intubations are very high, almost as bad as with Delta. I can only imagine (and anecdotally my doctor friend has said as much) that it’s due to poor general care of health, a great deal of untreated diabetes, obesity, high BP and the like, but still, not entirely clear what’s going on… Perhaps it’s the sheer volume of infections as well.
I do have a comment (I’m at 17:24) — BTW your lectures have been fantastic! What isn’t mentioned so far is that triply vaccinated folks generally are older, less healthy, (immunocompromised, etc) and so more prone to infection of any kind. Also the naturally infected folks — those of the I believe 7 -8 % group noted here – have SURVIVED round one of Alpha or Delta, (south Africa generally younger) so both/all of those may skew the data in favor of natural immunity. Which is kind of all we’re left with (i.e vaxxed and natural immunity) at this time. Nature has self selected out those most prone in the 7 -8 % group. Just a thought.
Hi John, I have to correct some statistical interpretations that you made. 8% of cases having had Delta doesn’t actually tell you that Delta is 92% protective. Just as 18.6% having had 3 doses. You need to compare firstly against he population level of that status and then benchmark it against a base marker. E.g. 3% of cases having red hair does not imply that red hair is 97% effective at preventing Covid.
Thank you Dr. John for your articles, it’s refreshing to listen to data analysis without all the political interests. I currently live in Australia. Approximately 90% of all the people that I know (friends, coworkers, …) Have had COVID in the last 6 weeks. No difference between vaccinated or unvaccinated as everyone had pretty much exactly the same symptoms. Despite this, police came to my workplace last week looking for unvaccinated people, as they were alerted that they were unvaccinated people working there. Wondering when this madness is going to end.
Nice article, it shows that Denmark is absolutely doing the right thing. It shows that other governments sticking to their corona rules are making themself more and more ridiculous. But it would be nice to make them even more ridiculous by comparing the omicron wave (hospital admission, ICU admission, death and excess mortality) with the 2018 influenza wave. This wave was quiet severe, but never triggered any live limiting rules. Please note in the article, that there was a good reason to have rules for the original, alpha and delta waves.
Dr John I have to tell you that while I am against vaccines, I love your articles and watches them for two years. Sorry that you never convinced me to get one but let me explain…I along with my three kids in their twenties are incredibly healthy. Two of them got delta (one didn’t even know they had it but was tested after exposure) and the other one had mild symptoms. I along with my hubby and another kid had omicron. All mild symptoms – mild cold anyway and we healed after a few days. One of my kids tested positive via antigen but negative on pcr (had previous delta). Another kid was exposed to us but tested negative. My father in law (obese) aged 80 unvaccinated got omicron and all he had was fever for three days. Recovered. We all started on 4000mg of vitamin D at the beginning of this pandemic . My point is 98%of people were only getting mild symptoms. Not all Covid positive had bad outcomes.
Reassuring regarding the plummeting admissions to intensive care and ventilation beds.. and that vaccinations have still made a difference. Really hoping that now the omicron is in full throttle everyone can benefit. No matter which route we have chosen to get through, seeing natural immunity soaring is indeed a blessing.
I went to school in France in the early 80’s and I don’t think there was an obese child in the WHOLE school! Yet the French ate a lot of bread (bread was eaten along with every meal!), butter and had food with lovely creamy sauces etc. Now when I go back to France, I notice a lot more obesity in children and young adults. Goes to show that home cooking and additive-free food helps.
Dear Dr.John, Please could we have an update on some of your past interviewees on Long Covid. My friend is a Health Professional and has had Long Covid symptoms for the past 7 months, and the headache and fatigue restricts all time off leisure activities; although still just about managing to work. It is so sad to see the continuing suffering in so many – even those fully vaccinated. Thank you for your website and your hard work delivering evidence backed facts. You are a star! Xxxxx
John, remember that in Canada about half of the total population is in the province of Ontario followed by Quebec. They were some of the first to stop wide spread PCR testing because the demand was too great once omicron began to spread. In my province in western Canada our healthcare service reduced testing to high risk groups. We seemingly peaked around January 16 (give or take a few days for all the provinces) and it was shortly after that when testing was reduced across Canada.
Interesting as always. Thank you for running this website. With regard to the comparison of percentages reported at 15:20 (7-8% of reinfections had delta or alpha) and at 15:40 (18.6% of omicron infections were triply mRNA vaccinated) suggesting that previous delta/alpha infection protects against omicron better than triple mRNA vaccinations, I would be very cautious. First, the inferred very high protection runs contrary to previous reports that delta antibodies do not neutralise omicron antigen (but vice versa they do). Okay, there is also cellular immunity. But, second, and more importantly, the percentages refer to different bases. The 7-8% is about reinfections, while the 18.6% refer to infections (first and repeated, we don’t know the proportions). Reinfection means covid twice. If only 7-8% previously had delta/alpha, what did the remaining 92-93% have? All the wild type? I assume we have had many more delta/alpha infections (> 7-8% of all infections) that wild type. So, yes, delta/alpha gives your more protection that wild type. But this is all we can say, I believe. How much more, we do not really know (from this data). Delta/alpha protection is better relative to wild type infections. With regard to the 18.6% we also need to know how many of the omicron infections were first corona infections versus repeated corona infections. The relative chance of getting infected if vaccinated versus if having had previous infection, very much depends on the proportion of reinfections in the data (and also on the proportion of people being vaccinated).
Dr. Campbell, first and foremost, thank you for your continued support in delivering this data and where one can pull the data to consume in an unbiased approach. Second, thank you for taking the time to pull comments as a reflection point regarding the data. The discussion of your website being debated is shameful since the way you display the information allows anyone to test and theorize the information under an unfiltered lens. Your comment on how the Food Industry prioritizes profit vs. health is an excellent topic to discuss. Based on how we here in the States when it comes to exercise, healthy eating continues to raise concerns that very little is being done to correct.
My husband, my daughter, my son and I, all recently developed C19. (We are all twice “vaccinated”). My husband and I didn’t miss one day of our normal work, my daughter managed to keep on top of her uni syllabus, and my son (although he had to be absent from school due to legal parameters) kept on top of his work. We are a “healthy” family. BMI well within the normal percentages. Yes we were “sick” but still we kept going. We have experience of being very unwell for other reasons, (including influenza) and this experience completely mimics the South Africa experience.
Thank you John. Commenting from the States. I so appreciate your perspective and ability to parse and explain data to the lay person… Why do you think we will not have a worse version of COVID in the future? Either one that is better able to avoid immune response, sheds longer or multiplies faster? I think you mentioned this scenario the other day as a symptom of past pandemics and I wonder if you would elaborate. Again thank you so much!
Thank You John for the reference regarding the Lockdown Study (or Working Paper) from faculty associated with John Hopkins. I would note that is was done by Economists, not Epidemiologists. I believe some of the folks involved have been vocal opponents of Lockdowns in the past. This Study has not been Peer Reviewed nor has it been endorsed by John Hopkins. (Hence the reference to a Working Paper). You’ve always stated the importance for Peer Review and I believe this Working Paper is a perfect example. Some might jump to dismiss this Paper because of the author’s prior stances. However, simple dismissal of possible evidence because of prior belief would be in effect succumbing to an Ad Hominem fallacy. On the other hand, one would be quite naïve to ignore the clear possibility of bias (and, of course, bias can always be present). The only solution is Peer Review over time. At first glance, I have a lot of questions about the study, especially as a Meta-Analysis given there have been previous studies that suggest Lockdowns have some effect. Consequently, the better path is to withhold judgment on this Study (or Paper) until it can be reviewed by other Economists and Epidemiologists. However, I am so thankful you shared this because if we can create better health care strategies the better for us all.
In most provinces in Canada most people don’t have access to PCR testing unless you fall into an extremely limited category. Rapid Antigen tests are slightly more available but the positives are not recorded in case numbers. Of the PCR tests done in the province of Alberta the positivity rates have been between 35 and 39% range since they started limiting availability to the general population. Over a month now. They test waste water in some cities but I haven’t heard them announce the results. Hope this helps. Your website is the first I listen to every day thanks! 🇨🇦
Born in 1961 and graduated high school in 1979. Only one or two people in a class were overweight, and unfortunately that would be a source of embarrassment; kids can be very unkind to anyone who is different. I had to walk over a mile to go to school from grades 7 through 12 and, looking back, that 2-mile walk a day was probably wonderful for my health. I suffered from depression from my early teens and that probably helped at least a little. We also had a great phys ed program and a bus on the weekend that would take kids to Mt. Hood to ski. Those were the days…
Some Canadian provinces are quitting PCR testing for everyone except the very vulnerable. At home tests are still available, I think, but no reporting is required. Hospitalization numbers are at the highest of the pandemic in Alberta and Saskatchewan. Fortunately the ICU numbers are correspondingly high.
Regarding availability of testing, I can only speak of my experiences. Here in the Orlando, Florida area it seems one can get a COVID test in numerous locations. Just about every pharmacy and grocery store is offering them, and there are additional locations being run by our county health departments. The last time I was at the local grocery store, I was able to buy at-home COVID test kits at very reasonable cost as well.
As a retired nurse-practitioner in the U.S., I’ve been struck by the fact that so few medical studies and media reports are being clear about obesity as a risk factor for more severe COVID illness. It’s currently not acceptable to “fat shame” in the U.S., so people tend to tip-toe around the problem for fear of being politically incorrect. Telling the truth is important, though – people who are obese need to take more care to avoid exposure to COVID and to get their vaccinations because they are at higher risk. And yes, the U.S. definitely has a weight problem and I’m sorry to say that food manufacturers are quite happy to make sure that we all eat a LOT of junk food so that they make more money…no, they are not concerned with our health at all. Capitalism at its shining best (or, wait, I think our healthcare system based on making a profit off of sick people is an even better example of shining capitalism….)
My problem with vaccines is still the missing long term data. We don’t know if they cause cancer. We don’t know something about long term effects on the immun system. We don’t know about the effects on the heart (a lot of footballers seem to have problems…) We don’t know about the overall toxicity of the vaccines at all. What if we have only 10% more cancer after a few years? Absolutely irresponsible to give the vaccines to everyone.
My husband and I both tested positive, one vaccinated 70 and one unvaccinated 61, we have been isolating for a week now, our tests were never registered, when we tried to register online, just because we were not suffering with a bad cough, they wouldn’t answer our call, just told to rest and treat at home. Which I would do with a flu anyway. Thanks for all of your work dr. Be interesting to see how one of us could possibly fly in the future, fingers crossed, An unvaccinated with no registration of Covid, only a antigen flow tests from the pharmacy done at home.
In USA the situation is different: USA has currently an average of 2,500 deaths/day. This is HIGHER than the peak reached by the Delta wave (2,000 deaths/day in September 2021), but it is still lower than the peak of the Alpha wave (3,400 deaths/day in January 2021) Hospitalizations from Omicron are currently going down, but they have reached a PANDEMIC RECORD on January 18 2022. ICU patients are also currently decreasing, but have reached the same level as during the Delta wave, and close to the peak reached during the Alpha wave. Conclusion: I don’t think we can say that Omicron is milder than Delta Omicron has surpassed Delta in terms of deaths and hospitalizations, and has equaled Delta at ICU occupancy. Where is the mildness?
When it has been conceded that virtually everyone will contract this Omicron variant, as Denmark has done, we can stop worrying about infection rates and even case numbers. When you add up the number of people who were vaccinated to those who have contracted the virus and recovered (irrespective of their vaccination status) it becomes very clear that this particular variant has run its course. From what you have explained, it seems that vaccination made little difference for this variant, except perhaps the degree of suffering for those infected and not vaccinated. May we please all just get back to living a relatively normal life?
I had an outpatient ultrasound yesterday. People were mostly masked inside the building. The reception staff were masked but the ultrasound sonographer wasn’t. A group of people inside the (rear) entrance weren’t masked. There were no masks or hand sanitiser stations near the entrance, unlike last year, when I was there. There was a hand sanitiser point, at the start of the corridor after the intercom lock to the ultrasound department, but no monitoring of its use. There’s no paper on the examination table now, it’s a disinfectant wipe down between patients.
Dr. David Kessler, a former Surgeon General wrote THE END OF OVEREATING. It explained how portion sizes had increased to the point of being several times the amount needed to support needed calories, thus causing increased weight. Mostly the companies doing it are still doing it because it increases their income.
In Canada – the government of Ontario gave out 5 tests LFT (“RAT’s”) per school child to use over the school break and we are are buying our own tests (where possible)and using them. The community “talks” to each other thru venues like Facebook. So we are all aware Omicron is flying thru the population. A PCR tests take days for results.
Every province in Canada is responsible for supplying PCR and lat flow testing.We never had enough available so highly restricted. In Ontario, my first test which I paid for personally at $150 was for international travel in January 2022….No one in community can access free lat flows let alone PCRs. Only practising doctors and people with severe enough symptoms causing ‘concern’ can access free PCR’s. Our Omicron rise followed mandatory ‘free’ testing for teachers and student contacts in classroom when reopened in September 2022 based on political concern about ‘how it would look’ if school outbreaks occurred blind. So our upsurge was based on political manoeuvres allowing free access to a ‘few’. No where like the availability in UK for lat flows in community or even USA. Sadly there are no valid stats from Canada, except Federally massaged numbers. Grateful to follow your website for the accuracy and full transparency of presented data. Thank you from a retired physician ( UK trained but worked 35 years in Ontario) who stopped work due to chronic disease just before the pandemic, so have lots of much time to reflect on these issues.
Im a forgiving person and the people in authority where I am are quite forgettable, however your efforts & help has been enduring & priceless, of course fear & anxiety raise BP which will only waste energy that could be kept in reserve for resillience in fighting & recovering from what now seems inevitable infection. Our leaders seem to want to keep us in an over dominated restricted state of panic & anxiety, or else, which I have no doubt is contributing to Omicron severity in some plus people going to the hospital as soon as positive results with any symptoms whatsoever. I also had rhinovirus 2x last winter both was quite aggressive & it is possible to have more than 1 virus at the same time so perhaps that may also be occurring?
When I got Omicron, it was at the peak. I had to park in the local urgent care facility before they opened at 8, and carpet-bomb their phone number for 30 minutes until I got through! I got an appointment at 1…if I had waited until 9 or 10, I would not have gotten to see a doctor. When my son, living in the same house, got similar symptoms, we didn’t even bother going to the doctor…just start comfort meds and keep an eye on symptoms. I can absolutely believe there is huge underreporting, especially in the USA, where medical care is expensive, and many people have a fear or antipathy towards medicine, generally.
Hello Dr. Cambell, I’ve really appreciated your analysis through this pandemic. Hugely valuable. Today, I read a snippet implying that the PRINCIPLE study out of Oxford may have some finding to release soon. I am very curious to hear those findings. I believe that finding cheap and available, well understood treatments should have been a higher priority than it has been, especially when only wealthy, privileged countries have had full access to the expensive to implement vaccine programs. I look forward to your report on this study!
That is very strange to hear about testing here in the United States, unless you live in a rural area. I live in Denver and I have MULTIPLE official testing sites from my home. I also have ability to go to the State of Colorado website and have free home tests sent to me. It might take a while, but they are sent.
Hi again Dr.john. I’ve watched you every day for two years. I’m a CEV (multiple chronic health issues) plus age in mid fifties. I genuinely feel afraid, I have lot of contact with my beloved younger family, (how can one NOT see children and grandchildren – they are the joy in my life?) I just spend sleepless nights and wish I had faith in my GP, as I know I have to resign myself to be infected (and maybe reinfected, one day). I hope that if I go into hospital, it will be on a day the wards are not overrun and drugs are available. It’s really the govt lacking any plan to control infection in hospitals that worries me, as I feel that’s one of the likely places I’ll be exposed. We can pray for the evolution of a benign variant, but in the meantime,I’m trying to lose some weight while eating a variety of foods, as I also think starvation stresses the immune system. Bless everyone on here, and bless you, John. X