Coronavirus vaccine and COVID variant updates for 01-21-2022

<p>Spain is planning a different approach to future surges of infection. It won’t be treated as an emergency, it’ll be seen as an illness that’s here to stay. Portugal and Britain are taking similar steps. “Learning to live with the vaccine” used to be a philosophy attacked as anti-science and irresponsible government, but the tune is changing. The World Health Organization actually has no criteria for declaring COVID an endemic disease.</p><br><p>Here’s another thing that used to be attacked with regularity that now people are seeing differently, the idea of immunity of natural infection. California and New York health officials say those who were infected were better protected against the Delta variant than those who were vaccinated alone. The results do not apply to Omicron and the advice is still to get fully vaccinated.&nbsp;</p><br><p>After two months, attempts in the U.S. to get children age 5-11 vaccinated hasn’t been going well. The number of first doses remains far below its early peak. There was a slight uptick in December, but then the number dropped again. Only 18.8% of kids in that age group are fully vaccinated.</p><br><p>With hospitals packed and stressed, when should you go there and when should you not add to the problem? Health experts say if you just have a cough, sore throat, fever, muscle aches — and you can keep fluids down and breathe okay, stay home, and treat it as you would a bad cold. If you’re short of breath during exertion, have severe chest pain or swelling of a limb, head to the ER. They add it’s very handy to have a fingertip pulse oximeter at home so you can check your blood oxygen levels.</p><br><p>The virus is horrible, but we continue to be our own worst enemy. An American Airlines flight took off from Miami, headed for London. But a woman in her 40’s refused to wear a mask as required. The airline wasn’t kidding about that rule, so it turned around and was back on the ground in Miami 90 minutes later. 128 other passengers paid the price for the woman’s behavior, and now she’