No, Omicron Cannot 'Target' Vaccinated Individuals

KVUE ^ | December 28, 2021 | Mauricio Chamberlin, Kelly Jones

[nickcarraway]

A virus cannot target a specific person regardless of vaccination status. "Immune evasion," along with increased transmissibility, are reasons why omicron spreads.

After the omicron COVID-19 variant was first reported to the World Health Organization by South Africa on Nov. 24, the variant was quickly discovered around the world, including in the United States.

Since the emergence of the COVID-19 variant, there has been speculation that vaccinated individuals are more susceptible to catching omicron than unvaccinated individuals.

According to Google Trends data, “omicron in vaccinated” saw a spike in searches beginning on Dec. 5. There are hundreds of tweets that claim the variant “targets” the vaccinated versus the unvaccinated (see examples here, here, here, here and here).

THE QUESTION

Can the omicron variant specifically target a vaccinated person?

THE SOURCES

Dr. Paul Bienasz, a virologist with Rockefeller University Dr. Saralyn Mark, former senior medical advisor at the White House and current lead COVID-19 spokesperson for the American Medical Women’s Association Centers for Disease Control and Prevention World Health Organization

THE ANSWER

This is false.

No, COVID-19 variants - including omicron - cannot target vaccinated people.

The CDC and WHO say being vaccinated provides greater protection against severe illness and hospitalization and helps reduce the likelihood of someone spreading COVID-19, but it does not eliminate the risk entirely.

WHAT WE FOUND

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Nov. 26 designated omicron a variant of concern because preliminary evidence suggests it may reinfect people more easily than other variants.

Since then, health professionals, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the WHO have recommended individuals should get an additional booster shot to help stave off the variant.

A variant can’t specifically target a vaccinated person over an unvaccinated person because that’s just not how viruses work.

Dr. Paul Bienasz told VERIFY omicron is a “product of viral evolution.”

“So this virus has been passing from human-to-human to more humans, and in some individuals persisting in those individuals for a significant amount of time. And over time, what happens is that viruses mutate, they diversify, they do so in a random way,” he said.

Bienasz explained the mutations become smarter at evading antibodies, and the antibodies provided by the vaccine “are the very same antibodies that omicron would have previously encountered and evolved to resist.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) refers to this as “immune evasion,” and this, combined with increased transmissibility, are the reasons why omicron is spreading so rapidly.

Further, there is not enough evidence from the CDC or WHO to support claims vaccinated individuals are more likely to become infected with the omicron variant. The CDC says they are still collecting data on how well vaccines and medications are working against omicron.

WHO told VERIFY in an email: “There are still limited data on the clinical severity of omicron. More data are needed to understand the severity profile and how severity is impacted by vaccination and pre-existing immunity.”

According to the CDC, people who were unvaccinated have a greater risk of testing positive for COVID-19 and a greater risk of dying from COVID-19 than people who were fully vaccinated.

Studies have already shown that boosters are effective. When a person gets a booster shot, it essentially provides them an additional safety net against COVID-19 variants, Bienasz told VERIFY.

“People who have had two mRNA vaccine doses, and then later had a booster dose or third dose, their levels of immunity begin to approach those very high levels of immunity that we've seen in people who have been both infected, and vaccinated,” he said, of being more immune to omicron. “Again, their antibodies seem to be much better able to deal with variants such as omicron. And I think this is a very, very powerful argument in favor of everybody getting a booster at this time.”

Dr. Saralyn Mark told VERIFY the reason people might think omicron targets the vaccinated is directly related to vaccine hesitancy or resistance, and individuals really need to think about the big picture - the purpose of a vaccine.

“We have vaccines to decrease your chances for hospitalization and death. And we know that that has been quite effective. But we have seen in our hospitals that over 80% of those who are in hospitals are generally those who have not been vaccinated. With the omicron variant, this is a variant that has well over 50 different mutations and may evade parts of our immune system,” Mark said. “But what we have seen is that those who've been vaccinated tend to have mild, more mild cases. It is extremely important that we use our other public health measures as well, such as masking social distancing, hand washing and ventilation.”

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[cableguymn]

but it can find them easier to infect.

but why can’t it target vaxed people?

It knows to wait until you are done eating and have your mask back on
it knows not to infect small groups
it knows not to come out until after curfew

it’s a very smart virus. Just look at the rules they came up with.

[Robert DeLong]

Dr. Saralyn Mark, former senior medical advisor at the White House and current lead COVID-19 spokesperson for the American Medical Women’s Association Centers for Disease Control and Prevention World Health Organization.

Just a couple of years ago, I might have been impressed with these credentials. Now, they are negative credentials, so why should I even take this person's medical opinion as the gospel? Sorry, Saralyn, but your profession has shown its true colors with the undeniable fact that the majority of your professional cohorts are nothing more than practitioners of greed.

See, it's not vaccine hesitancy. The reality, is more of a trust issue coupled with a mandatory infringement regarding my freedom of choice with regards to a concoction being pedaled as a vaccine by big pharma and medical quacks like yourself with whom I no longer trust what they tell me.

[higgmeister]

This from: https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.0030272

Smallpox vaccination has some adverse effects. In particular, vaccinia virus occasionally infects the brain. This so-called post-vaccination encephalitis can cause permanent brain damage and, it has been estimated, kills one vaccinee in every million. Consequently, as smallpox became rarer, the dangers of vaccination began to outweigh its benefits. Routine smallpox vaccination stopped in the US in 1972, and in 1980 the World Health Organization recommended that all countries stop vaccination. Now, however, there are fears that smallpox may be used for bioterrorism. If this did happen, exposed individuals and their contacts, possibly even whole populations, would have to be vaccinated as quickly as possible (very few people now have strong immunity to smallpox). Many countries have stockpiles of smallpox vaccines for this eventuality, but these contain different vaccinia virus strains. In this study, the researchers examined historical data to discover whether these strains differ in their potential to cause encephalitis and death. This information should help public-health officials plan their vaccination strategies in response to a bioterrorism attack with smallpox.

Ten thousand in way over 200 million sounds fine to me when you consider old people on death's door were most of the first individuals inoculated.   Your fake pearl clutching concern needs to stop.

[fireman15]

In August you said, “Anyway the vaccines all work, but only against variants having the original spike. Delta has a mutation that changes the spike enough to evade the vaccines. So delta is getting passed around while the original virus stalls out.”

Omicron not only does not have the “original spike”, it is not even a direct descendant of the original gain of function virus that the “vaccines” were designed to fight. Why you are now defending the “vaccines” and claiming that I am a crackpot and scaring people is beyond me. We have been preaching the same message much of the time.

https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/3990536/posts?q=1&;page=101

[antceecee]

Prayers for your recovery.

[antceecee]

Very kind response.

[antceecee]

How about toning down your crackpot response and trying for a civil conversation?

[antceecee]

Amen!

[Pajamajan]

"this virus has been passing from human-to-human to more humans, and in some individuals persisting in those individuals for a significant amount of time."

And we know any of this, how, doctors?

What did we learn from using PCR tests that can't differentiate between the CCP virus, common cold, and flu?

What did we learn from changing the cycles on the tests, which resulted in large numbers of false positive test results?

And how do you evaluate the numbers when hospitals (in order to collect financial incentives) were listing almost any patient's death as a Covid death (even if person died in motorcycle accident?)

How can anything be determined if the information used was false?

This story reads like a tangled up pile of gobbledygook.

[datura]

His “crackpot theory” is completely verified with many other nation’s data. (Basically everywhere except the USA thanks to the CDC editing of data and who is “vaccinated”.)

[Pajamajan]

"but why can't it target vaxed people?
It knows to wait until you are done eating and have your mask back on
it knows not to infect small groups
it knows not to come out until after curfew
it's a very smart virus. Just look at the rules they came up with."

It sees you when you're sleeping.
It knows when you're awake.
It knows if you've been bad or good...

That's it!
I think we know what the next variant will be:
the Santa 🎅 variant.

Only instead of bringing you presents, it will lock you in your house and send you lots of mail in ballots.

And then it will give you Democrats to govern you again, as they "win" another landslide victory in the 2022 election.

[enumerated]

The same germaphobes and hypochondriacs afraid enough to run get vaccinated against sniffles are the same ones that run to the doctor and get tested for sniffles.

So yes, the fully vaccinated are far more susceptible to this whole sniffle farce.

[bagster]

Why do you keep posting your crackpot theory? You don’t understand what mRNA does with the immune system and all you do is needlessly scare people.

But never fear, Bagster's here. I know you love to read medical papers. Here's one that could advantage your knowledge base:

Said the raven to the crow. Tell what you know about what MRNA does to the immune system to the cleaning lady on Monday.

What Happened in the Animal Trials for mRNA vaccines?

(excerpt)

The papers’ conclusion was “These SARS-CoV vaccines all induced antibody and protection against infection with SARS-CoV. However, challenge of mice given any of the vaccines led to occurrence of Th2-type immunopathology suggesting hypersensitivity to SARS-CoV components was induced. Caution in proceeding to application of a SARS-CoV vaccine in humans is indicated.”*

All the vaccines used in this research experiment in 2012 triggered hypersensitivity of Th2 immunity. Th2 cells are a subset of CD4+ T helper cells hence the name Th2. The results from this study showed as Th2 immunity triggered by the vaccines increased, the body’s defense system was pushed out of balance and this reaction started to cause tissue breakdown in the lung. This, of course, is concerning.

So, yea. The fake poison vax damages the body's natural immune system, as shown by the actual trials in 2002 of MRNA vaccines. And because of this, the study concluded, "Caution in proceeding to application of a SARS-CoV vaccine in humans is indicated".

The current iterations of 'vaccine' were not tested as thorougly, as you may well know, having read many medical papers even before covid.

[Worldtraveler once upon a time]

— “Why would anyone feel the need to write this?”

Bravo for a very pertinent question.

To stoke the fires of panic, one needs seemingly fresh word salad. Consider “Immune evasion,” a fine next bit of kindling to stir the embers back into fires of “oh my God!” “Vaccine hesitancy” didn't burn brightly enough. If the flames go to embers, and the fires cannot be further stoked, what shall the “follow us on Facebook” crowd do? The “verify team” will have to find another bit of arson.....

[gridlock]

Inanimate or non sentient things “targeting” this or that is a journalistic staple. A common cliche that is always stupid and wrong.

[Fresh Wind]

And “Delta Omicron” is an anagram for “media control”.

[9YearLurker]

Knocking down a claim that the virus “targets” the jabbed is a classic strawman argument to deflect from the real vulnerability and give them the opportunity to supposedly disprove something around the general idea of the claim that has actually been made. Classic disinformation.

[ForbesFan]

I’m worried they are doing the gain of function research to release a pathogen that is more likely to afflict the unvaxed. Biden has already threatened the unvaxed so that’s probably what’s coming next if that’s even possible. The vaxed will die from the injections within the next couple of years at most, but that won’t solve their problem with the people who rejected the lethal injections.

[Prince of Space]

My daughter, husband and 2 kids had Covid last December. The parents got 2 Pfizer shots last spring so they could fly to Chicago. At this time all 4 of them are recovering from the colds they had last week. It wasn’t Covid but they were definitely sick. It’s just as anecdotal as your story, but the difference is I’m not calling you a liar.

FYI, hubby and I haven’t been “vaccinated,” but we also haven’t been sick in the 21 months since we had Covid. I’d put our natural immunity up against yours any day.

[TermLimits4All]

Yep, my eyes are doing the same thing. Had the typical body aches and a migraine like headache for the last 3 days. As I write this the aches are gone mostly, headache is a minor headache. I have zero energy. Dog puked yesterday and the 10 minutes it took me to clean that up warranted a 2 hour nap.
I can tell I’ve got some minor chest congestion, it seems to come right up at this point though. My temperature peaked at 105.7 on the 26th. My doctor said I should have went to the ER. It was a rapid spike in temp and stayed that way for about 8 hours. Then back down to near 100. Now been fever free for almost 24 hours.
I have not been vaxxed.