[venomsnake]

The question is are outcomes in vaccinated people comparable to flu - if yes - we can freely ignore it. Or people that have natural immunity. Or unvaccinated.

I have a bad feeling that with focus just on antibodies we're ignoring the important metrics. Which is outcomes.

[323]

The outcomes are pretty clear already, 10 times more official deaths globally compared to a bad flu. And we know the official death counts is under-counted by a 4x-10x factor.

[spookthesunset]

> And we know the official death counts is under-counted by a 4x-10x factor.

Or it could be overcounted by a sizable chunk too. Nobody really knows the actual count and we probably won't until the dust settles and cooler heads prevail. The only thing we can do at this point is take the numbers we have at face value.

[Jensson]

> And we know the official death counts is under-counted by a 4x-10x factor.

Not even California undercounted that much and they are among the worst under counters in the western world, if we compare Covid deaths to excess mortality. Death undercounts are closer to 30% at worst.

[Jabbles]

But that question is far harder to answer than testing the viral proteins in a lab. You seem to be dismissing this research whilst suggesting they concentrate on something that is probably impossible, thankfully, due to the fact that this variant hasn't spread much.

[orra]

Sure, it's hard to test things in real world conditions, but that doesn't mean we should over extrapolate from in vitro findings. In particular, infecting cells easier in a lab doesn't mean the virus spreads from person to person easier.

Besides, the fact this variant hasn't spread much is telling in and of itself! Maybe we got 'lucky'. But maybe it just isn't that contagious, compared to Delta.

[SketchySeaBeast]

It is possible to determine, but only in hindsight, which is really the worst sort of possible.