2022 saw much higher rates of hospitalisation, ICU admission, and deaths, with esp. the latter accruing to 93% (!) in the elderly (60+). Join me as we explore the newest data released (pt. 1)
I think the difference in severity of Omicron is due to differences in the health of the sampled population. Scandinavia is far and away from the pandemic of morbid obesity, heavy smoking and lack of exercise that is typical of the populations that have been hit harder than us.
That observation holds true when looking inside our nations here too: diabetes, hypertoni, being fat, having a generally unhealthy lifestyle wthout exercise or proper food and vitamin D deficiency: 80%+ of those dead from/with Covid had one or more severe comorbidities.
This is of course unscientific in that I have zero studies to show. On the other hand I would hazard a guess that the number of studies who individually looks at the things listed above number in the tens of thousands, as regards to general health.
And as a personal self-aggrandizing anecdote: I'm semi-retired. I am in better health and physical condition than the average 18 year old. The volunteers I meet at church (all of them 70+ save one) are all spry and healthy because they grew up being physically active to an extent which is virtually onknown for city-dwelling children born post 1980 at the latest.
It all adds up, I think. But how to measure it, well - that's too complicated for me.
I do agree with this, at least in part: Mexico, for instance, has an even more unhealthy (obese) population than, say, the US, but a clearly lower rate of problems of/with Covid. It's quite obvious that policies (Ivermectin, I suspect) had a lot to do with that.
As to Scandinavian health issues: every time I buy groceries (we're all almost vegan, no smoking, no alcohol), I wonder about the crap--'convenience' food, softdrinks/sodas, candy--locals buy, on top of the apparently heavy (normalised) consumption of alcoholic beverages. Sure, Scandinavians may look less obese than, say, Americans, but that doesn't mean one is 'healthy'.
Still, I'd suspect that the absence of large-scale anxiety about, say, medical bills and the rather generous welfare state in place (e.g., Norway's poverty line for a family of four is around 55,000 US$ per year) reduce a lot of these societal ailments, but that surely cannot explain the vastly better outcomes w/respect to all matters Covid.
As a reply to your 'personal self-aggrandizing anecdote': I'm one of those (early) 1980s, city-born-and-raised children, but my BMI is below 25, I did athletics when I was a teen and during my university time, now I bike to work (which means I spend some 40-60 minutes per workday on my bike), and I like to spend time outdoors. I'm obviously an outlier, for all my colleagues like to chew tobacco, drink alcohol regularly, and don't seem too healthy. So, perhaps I'm quite exceptional in this regard.
Final quip about the measurement: you've surely seen my follow-up post: I agree, the measurement is the problem, but my closes approximation would be to screen your fellow grocery-shoppers' purchases for ideas.
I am still undecided about the severity of Omicron. Is some countries it looks worse but in the UK, unless they are fiddling with the stats, it does look more mild.
I got omicron. No symptoms except loss of sense of smell for three days. And for those around me it was also extremely mild, except one that was a weak flu.
I had the flu in December 2019, and it could have been COVID for all i know. That one was terrible, i had to go to the legevakt, although I was sent home. Two weeks of a bad flu and coughing for months after the event.
So compare to that, omicron was nothing. Of course if dec-19 was COVID i might have had some protection. Although I took some antibodies test oct-21 and there was nothing.
As rgards Omicron's severity: I think it's milder relative to…Delta or Alpha. That said, it's much more transmissible--I went through two years of Covid without so much getting anywhere near infection, although I never wore a face diaper after spring 2020 and generally ignored ± all the recommendations and rules (with the exception of air travel).
It would appear, From Norway, we're in the same category, then: Covid-naive, 'unvaccinated' until we both caught the bug in January 2022. Strangely enough, and while, if asked, I tell everyone 'for us, Covid was less annoying than a cold', anecdata from my co-workers, acquaintances, and neighbours suggests that Omicron is apparently 'not-so-mild' if you've gotten injected.
So, my take is this: Omicron may be milder on an individual level, but the outcome is heavily dependent on a number of variables, which incl., but are not limited to, personal circumstances and time elapsed sind, and number of injections. these appear the most important factors, I'm sure there are others, too, but I maintain my cautious stance on the societal 'mildness': the most recent Norwegian data indicates there are more hospitalisations, ICU admissions, and deaths than during Alpha and Delta, but this may be more due to Omicron's higher transmissibility--and this latter point may actually be due to OAS/ADE and the injection-induced much higher susceptibility of the 'vaccinated' parts of the population to Omicron.
I think the difference in severity of Omicron is due to differences in the health of the sampled population. Scandinavia is far and away from the pandemic of morbid obesity, heavy smoking and lack of exercise that is typical of the populations that have been hit harder than us.
That observation holds true when looking inside our nations here too: diabetes, hypertoni, being fat, having a generally unhealthy lifestyle wthout exercise or proper food and vitamin D deficiency: 80%+ of those dead from/with Covid had one or more severe comorbidities.
This is of course unscientific in that I have zero studies to show. On the other hand I would hazard a guess that the number of studies who individually looks at the things listed above number in the tens of thousands, as regards to general health.
And as a personal self-aggrandizing anecdote: I'm semi-retired. I am in better health and physical condition than the average 18 year old. The volunteers I meet at church (all of them 70+ save one) are all spry and healthy because they grew up being physically active to an extent which is virtually onknown for city-dwelling children born post 1980 at the latest.
It all adds up, I think. But how to measure it, well - that's too complicated for me.
I do agree with this, at least in part: Mexico, for instance, has an even more unhealthy (obese) population than, say, the US, but a clearly lower rate of problems of/with Covid. It's quite obvious that policies (Ivermectin, I suspect) had a lot to do with that.
As to Scandinavian health issues: every time I buy groceries (we're all almost vegan, no smoking, no alcohol), I wonder about the crap--'convenience' food, softdrinks/sodas, candy--locals buy, on top of the apparently heavy (normalised) consumption of alcoholic beverages. Sure, Scandinavians may look less obese than, say, Americans, but that doesn't mean one is 'healthy'.
Still, I'd suspect that the absence of large-scale anxiety about, say, medical bills and the rather generous welfare state in place (e.g., Norway's poverty line for a family of four is around 55,000 US$ per year) reduce a lot of these societal ailments, but that surely cannot explain the vastly better outcomes w/respect to all matters Covid.
As a reply to your 'personal self-aggrandizing anecdote': I'm one of those (early) 1980s, city-born-and-raised children, but my BMI is below 25, I did athletics when I was a teen and during my university time, now I bike to work (which means I spend some 40-60 minutes per workday on my bike), and I like to spend time outdoors. I'm obviously an outlier, for all my colleagues like to chew tobacco, drink alcohol regularly, and don't seem too healthy. So, perhaps I'm quite exceptional in this regard.
Final quip about the measurement: you've surely seen my follow-up post: I agree, the measurement is the problem, but my closes approximation would be to screen your fellow grocery-shoppers' purchases for ideas.
I am still undecided about the severity of Omicron. Is some countries it looks worse but in the UK, unless they are fiddling with the stats, it does look more mild.
I got omicron. No symptoms except loss of sense of smell for three days. And for those around me it was also extremely mild, except one that was a weak flu.
I had the flu in December 2019, and it could have been COVID for all i know. That one was terrible, i had to go to the legevakt, although I was sent home. Two weeks of a bad flu and coughing for months after the event.
So compare to that, omicron was nothing. Of course if dec-19 was COVID i might have had some protection. Although I took some antibodies test oct-21 and there was nothing.
Yes, everyone around me that is getting Omicron is not badly affected.
Same here, on both accounts.
As rgards Omicron's severity: I think it's milder relative to…Delta or Alpha. That said, it's much more transmissible--I went through two years of Covid without so much getting anywhere near infection, although I never wore a face diaper after spring 2020 and generally ignored ± all the recommendations and rules (with the exception of air travel).
It would appear, From Norway, we're in the same category, then: Covid-naive, 'unvaccinated' until we both caught the bug in January 2022. Strangely enough, and while, if asked, I tell everyone 'for us, Covid was less annoying than a cold', anecdata from my co-workers, acquaintances, and neighbours suggests that Omicron is apparently 'not-so-mild' if you've gotten injected.
So, my take is this: Omicron may be milder on an individual level, but the outcome is heavily dependent on a number of variables, which incl., but are not limited to, personal circumstances and time elapsed sind, and number of injections. these appear the most important factors, I'm sure there are others, too, but I maintain my cautious stance on the societal 'mildness': the most recent Norwegian data indicates there are more hospitalisations, ICU admissions, and deaths than during Alpha and Delta, but this may be more due to Omicron's higher transmissibility--and this latter point may actually be due to OAS/ADE and the injection-induced much higher susceptibility of the 'vaccinated' parts of the population to Omicron.