Coronavirus vaccine and COVID variant updates for 02-22-2022

<p>This is Vaccine 411, the latest coronavirus vaccine information for February 22nd, 2022.</p><br><p>If you want something to worry about, you can continue to worry about the Omicron variant BA2, because it’s spreading about 30% more easily than the first Omicron, which as we recall spread pretty darn fast. Infectious disease experts are keeping a close eye on it because they assumed it would take off in the US like it has in Europe. So far that hasn't happened, but it’s steadily spreading even as the Omicron surge keeps dissipating.&nbsp;</p><br><p>Britain is scrapping the self-isolation rules starting Thursday to jump start the country's economy. People who test positive will no longer have to self-isolate for a minimum five days. That doesn’t apply to Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland, which set their own regulations. The reasoning is that COVID isn’t going to suddenly disappear and waiting for that would restrict the liberties of the British people for a long time to come.</p><br><p>Even as we report falling case numbers, there’s still an average 2,200 people dying with COVID in the US daily. So who are these people? Doctors say it’s still mainly unvaccinated people, most of whom are in their 30s and 40s, who had no underlying health issues. A smaller percentage of deaths are among fully vaccinated (and boosted) people who are either older or have preexisting conditions.</p><br><p>We’re all eager to put the pandemic behind us, or at least beside us. But the Cleveland Clinic says it’s too soon to give the coronavirus endemic status. Doctors say they don’t know if it’s going to settle as a seasonal respiratory virus like the other coronaviruses or mutate and come back as something worse. It’s a game of wait and see. They say right now, the precautions people take will most likely be based on their personal comfort levels.&nbsp;</p><br><p>You may have heard it before, the place you’re most likely to get sick is in a hospital. And it was thought that hospitals were an outstanding place to catch COVID as well