12/30/2021
As Omicron is set to affect virtually everyone across the globe, regardless of vaccination status, receipt of booster, or prior infection - the FEAR that has driven personal and policy decisions over the past 2 years must STOP. And that begins with acknowledging the accumulating evidence that while Omicron is clearly more transmissible & able to evade vaccines, booster, natural immunity & monoclonal antibodies - it is NOT more serious.
As we see increases in child Omicron cases - the RATE of hospitalizations & death remain stable compared with prior strains. For children:
✨Hospitalization rates are still 0.8%
✨Death rates are still 0.01% (every death is one too many, but we need to know the numbers to make sound public health policy)
✨MIS-C remains rare
✨These numbers hold true for Omicron, Delta, Beta, Alpha, etc…
(https://www.aap.org/en/pages/2019-novel-coronavirus-covid-19-infections/children-and-covid-19-state-level-data-report/
https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/ -national-surveillance)
Data out of South Africa show that Omicron has LOWER hospitalization rates than Delta & Beta. Hospitalization rates were noted as follows:
✨Omicron: 38 per 1000
✨Delta 101 per 1000
✨Beta: 131 per 1000
(https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/14/world/africa/omicron-south-africa-study.html
A global meta-analysis of 77 studies found that 40-54% of people with SARS-CoV-2 infection are ASYMPTOMATIC. Which may be good or bad news depending on how you look at it. But however you look at it - if you get infected with SARS-CoV-2, there’s a 50/50 chance that you will have NO symptoms.
(https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2787098)
I am not in any way minimizing the gravity of how serious COVID can be for some. But 2 years into the pandemic, we need to move out of the uncertainty of 2020 & the fear of 2021, and step into 2022 with a calm plan.
And that starts with acknowledging that getting INFECTED is NOT the same as being sick.
Having a positive test should not invoke panic, fear, guilt or shame. Don’t be cavalier. But don’t feel helpless.
💥Knowledge is Power💥
Stay tuned for more tools to stay calm & confident in 2022.
xo Elisa Song, MD💕