One of the virology newsletters I read is reporting that although the new BQ strains are not dominant in France, hospitalizations for Covid continue to fall. This is seen as "we're not out of the woods yet but it's a hopeful sign". It is possible that the new strains, though massively immune-escaping, are for once in fact actually "milder". However this can change at a moment's notice, and one must keep in mind that the reported figures from most health agencies are now so politicized as to be suspect. We are doing far less testing, far less reporting, and hospitalizations are just part of the story. Plus, as we saw with the CDC's delay in notifying the public of the inroads being made in the US by the BQ strains, there is foot-dragging in the reporting environment.
Meanwhile, people still get very ill without going to the short-staffed hospitals, and some of those end up with long covid.
In other news, the new bivalent vaccine has seen several studies published in the past couple of weeks, the gist of which is that although they are less effective against the new BQ strains than BA.5, they are still more effective than expected. So still definitely worth getting, while at the same time not neglecting NPI's (Non-Pharmaceutical Interventions like masking and social distancing).
Meanwhile, people still get very ill without going to the short-staffed hospitals, and some of those end up with long covid.
In other news, the new bivalent vaccine has seen several studies published in the past couple of weeks, the gist of which is that although they are less effective against the new BQ strains than BA.5, they are still more effective than expected. So still definitely worth getting, while at the same time not neglecting NPI's (Non-Pharmaceutical Interventions like masking and social distancing).
