For most Americans, COVID is now just a fading memory, but the media isn’t ready to let it go. They’re back at it again, using the latest variant to stir up fear and push panic. A new report warns of rising cases across the country, and predictably, the narrative is shifting to suggest that if you can’t get the newest vaccine, somehow that’s Donald Trump’s fault.
“Known as NB.1.8.1, the omicron variant has been tracked in states across the country following a large surge in China. Although, right now, LP.8.1 — a descendent of JN.1 — is the nation’s dominant strain,” reports The Independent.
"CDC is aware of reported cases of COVID-19 NB.1.8.1 in China and is in regular contact with international partners," a spokesperson for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told CBS News last week.
Other outlets are breathlessly reporting rising cases worldwide and stoking “growing fears” over what it could all mean. But here’s the kicker: so few U.S. sequences have been submitted that they’re not even showing up on the official variant-tracking dashboard. Still, that hasn’t stopped the media from doing what it does best — cranking up the fear machine and urging everyone to slam the panic button, facts be damned.
But, in Asia, it’s resulted in increased hospitalizations and emergency room visits. So, what should Americans know about NB.1.8.1, and how worrying is its spread? Here’s what to know.
NB.1.8.1 has been designated a SARS-CoV-2 variant under monitoring, with increasing proportions globally, according to the World Health Organization. There are currently six tracked by the agency.
It’s spread throughout 22 countries. In the U.S., it has been traced to New York, California, Arizona, Ohio and Rhode Island, according to records from local health officials at the CDC’s airport testing partner Ginkgo Bioworks.
While still low in numbers, the WHO noted that there had been a significant rise in its prevalence from late March to April.
Of course, the usual sheep probably ran off to their local pharmacy or doctor's office to get vaccinated before reading the part where the World Health Organization concedes that there really is nothing to worry about.
“Despite a concurrent increase in cases and hospitalizations in some countries where NB.1.8.1 is widespread, current data do not indicate that this variant leads to more severe illness than other variants in circulation,” the WHO said in a statement.
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Still, I’m sure the usual suspects have their punch cards ready to get credit for another vaccine and win a free sub or something. But the media wants them to think that they might not be able to get another vaccination and that the reason is Trump.
The article assures its readers that the current vaccines are effective against this new variant (whatever “effective” means these days) but that “access to the vaccines is being limited by the Trump administration.”
So what’s actually happening? Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has finally pulled the plug on the mRNA COVID-19 vaccines for healthy children and pregnant women. They’re now off the recommended schedule — and not a moment too soon. The truth is that there was never a solid medical justification for putting them there in the first place. We knew this back in 2020. The only surprise is that it took this long for common sense to catch up.
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