Natural Herd Immunity was
not reached in December 2020 for the B.1.1.7 (Alpha) Variant of Concern that had first emerged in the U.K. in the
fall of 2020.
The few posting the December 2020 date of
Natural Immunity for the Alpha variant are intentionally
posting misinformation to cover their tracks when their prediction failed miserably that Covid was defeated...
Yet, they have no knowledge about the genomics that's shared between Alpha, Delta, and Omicron (discussed further below) that verifies Natural Immunity has not been reached considering these three particular variants are causing the same protein mutation.
- Today (2022), the Alpha variant is viewed as the world's first Variant of Concern.
More importantly,
as of February 2021 in the U.K. alone, 1,146,534 people were still being infected by the Alpha variant. In fact, the Alpha variant genomic sequence is still found in most countries even though the Dominant variant was the Delta variant by spring of 2021 and now today it's the Omicron variant.
- Covid Alpha infections are still here today but fading although outstripped by the Delta and Omicron.
In addition, scientists, today use their studies on the
Alpha (Orf9b viral protein) to better understand Omicron mutations
"outside" of the spike protein that allowed Alpha and Omicron to suppress the immune system responses as the Orf9b viral protein increases dramatically in Covid infected patients because of its ability to
inhibit innate immunity along with allowing it to spread more efficiently from person to person.
- Omicron and Alpha share the same mutation in the Orf9b protein... it's like a running back running in the open field and a would-be tackler then gets a strong stiff arm from Omicron/Alpha that allows the Variants of Concern to keep gaining more yards.
Further, anyone with common sense and that has a little knowledge of Immunology
or Molecular Biology will know that if countries had Natural Immunity to the Alpha variant...there would
not be "reinfections" today for those that had prior infections to Alpha or Delta nor "breakthrough" infections today for those fully vaccinated.
Think of it this way, we have another type of immune response called Adaptive Immunity involving T cells and B cells.
- Simply, our healthcare system would not be approaching capacity level with severe Covid infections with primarily not vaccinated patients nor would we have the exponential Pediatric hospitalization that we see today.
More important, Omicron would have
never gained the status as a Variant of Concern because Natural Immunity and Vaccines would have better protected us from mutated viral proteins outside of the spike protein.
By the way, the Delta Variant of Concern shares the same mutated Orf9b protein...another reason about how Omicron gained the status of Variant of Concern.
This (viral Orf9b protein) is the reason why the next generation of vaccines will be targeting viral mutations outside of the spike protein.
Can we ever reach Natural Immunity for Covid-19 ?
Most likely
never because there will still be births of Variants of Concern and people will still have the strong desire to travel and spread new Variants of Concern. Just as important, there will still be Zoonosis that's an avenue to birth more Variants of Concern because the human population is very unhealthy as a whole.
Smart people will stay as healthy as possible, regularly exercise, and get vaccinated whenever a deadly pathogenic Variant of Concern shows up... it's an excellent way to prevent severe Covid illness that increases the risk of Hospitalization.
- Remember this...we have Covid mutations every single day now. It's only a matter of time when something much more pathogenic will show up that causes more hospitalization and more deaths than what we've seen so far. Those not vaccinated will be impacted the most when such a mutation appears.
Talk to ET owner Baron, he's had Covid 3x (Original, Delta and recently stated he recovered from Omicron infection) and he's
not vaccinated. That's three different variants in which two of them share the same key mutated viral protein that such an infection would not have occurred had there been
Natural Immunity.
Baron is not alone because there are growing numbers of people getting reinfected with Covid-19...
multiple times in less than two years of this Pandemic.
Yet, most of these cases will result in a mild illness (e.g. running nose, sore throat, fever, and a little fatigue...no more than a few days).
- The only Natural Immunity to Covid right now is a person that's dead...a person that will not get infected again with any future Covid Variant of Concern.
Further, some academia view "reinfections" as a form of Natural Immunity because the memory B and T cells responded appropriately in fighting the disease when they saw it again...preventing a severe Covid infection that could have resulted in Hospitalization or Death. This is another debate...another day because scientists are still trying to identify a “correlate of protection,” a metric of how strong someone’s immunity is, but the evidence is mounting that such a correlate might lie in the number of antibodies in a person’s blood.
- By the way, not talked about often enough...the United States has an Obesity Prevalence of 42.4% of its population. That's a lot of potential victims of Covid that will keep Covid alive and well for many years to come.
Omicron is causing most of the
mild infections as the Predominant Variant (strain) while the Delta variant and some of the Alpha variant (it is still here but quickly fading away) is causing most of the Hospitalizations and Deaths.
Vaccines have protected most from a severe Covid infection of the Delta and Alpha variants. Unfortunately, as one Variant of Concern
fades away... it is fading away because of the emergence of a new Variant of Concern.
Last of all, now that countries like South Africa have peaked and now declining in the number of Omicron infections... let's now cross our fingers that a new Variant of Concern (that's more pathogenic) does not emerge to take its place because the birth of a Variant of Concern has been a pattern so far in this Pandemic...
Covid is being given too many opportunities to find a way around prior infections and vaccinations because we are in fact an unhealthy society.
wrbtrader
