I am surprised (well, should I really be?) that Omicron’s sibling BA.2 is being downplayed in the U.S. I’d like to think the U.S. could avoid a BA.2 rebound (moderate, and not back to the heights we saw before, by any stretch of the imagination), but I don’t think we’re that exceptional.
Gottlieb failed to predict the summer surge in 2020. Most did, so I don’t criticize him for that. But, after that, he has become the face of bad predictions, which he continues to make. I like Scott. I don’t understand why he feels the need to predict all the time. He blew it badly on Delta and Omicron (BA.1) and now is likely to be wrong on Omicron (BA.2). I think he’s baffled by the virus’s stealth nature and the lack of efficacy of the vaccines against transmission (3 doses of vaccine are VERY good at preventing severe disease). But, at this point, shouldn’t our response be “we just don’t know how it’s going to play out. We’re hoping for an end to the pandemic, but we need to keep our guard up.”
I believe Gottlieb’s conflict of interest – he’s a board member of Pfizer – should be noted during every TV broadcast which includes an appearance by him. Note, I am NOT opposed to his being a board member, but I do feel it gets in the way of a truly objective perspective on vaccine efficacy.
Thanks TK.
Unlike previous reports of Delta and Omicron possibly joining forces, this one looks credible. It’s a variant of interest in the UK: https://bnonews.com/index.php/2022/02/uk-investigates-covid-variant-combining-delta-omicron/
I am surprised (well, should I really be?) that Omicron’s sibling BA.2 is being downplayed in the U.S. I’d like to think the U.S. could avoid a BA.2 rebound (moderate, and not back to the heights we saw before, by any stretch of the imagination), but I don’t think we’re that exceptional.
Gottlieb failed to predict the summer surge in 2020. Most did, so I don’t criticize him for that. But, after that, he has become the face of bad predictions, which he continues to make. I like Scott. I don’t understand why he feels the need to predict all the time. He blew it badly on Delta and Omicron (BA.1) and now is likely to be wrong on Omicron (BA.2). I think he’s baffled by the virus’s stealth nature and the lack of efficacy of the vaccines against transmission (3 doses of vaccine are VERY good at preventing severe disease). But, at this point, shouldn’t our response be “we just don’t know how it’s going to play out. We’re hoping for an end to the pandemic, but we need to keep our guard up.”
I believe Gottlieb’s conflict of interest – he’s a board member of Pfizer – should be noted during every TV broadcast which includes an appearance by him. Note, I am NOT opposed to his being a board member, but I do feel it gets in the way of a truly objective perspective on vaccine efficacy.
This video is one of many reasons I am very skeptical about Gottlieb’s happy talk when it comes to Omicron. https://twitter.com/Cleavon_MD/status/1492215571387232257
C-19 for 2-14 is ready.