March 13th, 2023
Omicron US strains: as of March 11th data - variants make up: BQ.1 is 2%, BQ1.1 is 5%, XBB1.5 is 90% and XBB is 2%
Omicron XBB.1.5 is now the only major player in the Covid space. We are many weeks into this stable run of this variant. We are in a very steady state with disease risk and morbidity.
North Carolina's Department of Health and Human Services notes a flatline of Covid associated hospital ICU use for almost 1 calendar year now. Volumes are not changing despite the variant shifts.
My opinion has not changed for a while now regarding risk, vaccines and long term outcomes. I find no evidence that vaccines are useful for anyone outside of a high risk group. Children over 2 years of age absolutely have no scientific need to vaccinate once naturally infected. Between 6 months (cannot vaccinate under this age) and 2 years of age is a parent's choice based on the very small but real risk of a negative outcome. High risk individuals should always consider vaccinating on a biannual basis or based on the most current data.
There are no signs of increased disease morbidity despite incredible infectivity.
Little else to report here. (CDC Variants)
