#Omicron-5

[silketara]

I desperately want to munch G'raha Tia.

[dzthenerd490]

File: Alan Wake

SCP#: AHH

Code Name: Cauldron Lake/ Reality Ocean

Object Class: OVM

Special Containment Procedures: Mobile Task Force Mnemosyne-Γ "The Darkest Minds hold the Strongest Pens" is responsible for suppressing the reality warping abilities of SCP-AHH. The Pataphysics Department and Department of Unreality manages MTF Mnemosyne-Γ as well as containment of SCP-AHH. 

Mobile Task Force Mnemosyne-Γ is enforced by clones created by the Foundation given brains that are genetically programmed with vast knowledge, spliced with genes of reality benders collected by the Foundation through the years, and trained in Oneiroi. The combination of high intelligence, reality bender genes, and the ability of Oneiroi has allowed these clones to interact with SCP-AHH in ways that no normal or abnormal Foundation staff ever could before. 

There are currently 35 units within MTF Mnemosyne-Γ with their physical bodies being located at various Foundation sites. 5 are located at Site-AD, 10 at Site-AG, 5 at Site-AK, 5 at Site-AM, 10 at Site-AP. The reason they are spread out is to ensure that if one Site suffers a containment breach and a team ends up killed as a result, the other MTF Mnemosyne-Γ units will continue to suppress SCP-AHH. 

MTF Mnemosyne-Γ units use their ability of Oneiroi to travel to the location of SCP-AHH without physically getting close, once there they utilize their reality bending to prevent SCP-AHH from harming or even noticing them. Once there, they combined their vast intelligence and different anomalous abilities to create a metaphysical barrier around SCP-AHH to keep it from leaking out. Of course, SCP-AHH anomalous reality altering abilities makes this nearly impossible as it continues to create cracks and gaps in the barrier allowing bits of its influence to leak out. However, without MTF Mnemosyne-Γ units doing this, SCP-AHH would have caused greater damage to our world. 

The town called Bright Falls that surrounds the physical location of SCP-AHH has been taken by the Foundation with the primary reason to perform physical experiments. The secondary reason is to safely escort away any civilians who accidently or try to get too close to SCP-AHH. The Third reason is to dispose of any SCP-AHH-1 instances, Foundation Laser Rifles are distributed to ensure this happens with 100% success. The town is populated by AFA-3 units programmed with Level 3 A.I., equipped with the understanding of human psychology and emotions, allowing them to be perceived as normal people. Testing has shown that Artificial Intelligence does not affect SCP-AHH at all so utilization of AFA-3 units is the best alternative to Foundation staff. 

Any Civilians wandering into the town, especially with the intention of going to SCP-AHH are to be immediately given the proper amnestics to ensure they forget even knowing SCP-AHH exists. Afterwards they are to be escorted out of the town and to the nearest town immediately. Civilians who happen to be artists or writers are a much higher priority of amnestization and escorting out of the town. If any such civilian gets within a 100-meter radius of SCP-AHH they are to be executed immediately. Afterwards their body is to be escorted to the nearest Foundation site and incinerated, this applies to Foundation staff who get too close to SCP-AHH as well. There are no exceptions. 

SCP-AHH-1 instances are to be killed on sight with either Foundation Laser Rifles or the various UV traps placed around the town. If somehow a unique SCP-AHH-1 instance is found, they are to be contained as best as possible and sent to one of the various underground labs in the town. If this is not possible the AFA-3 units are then programmed to record everything they witness this SCP-AHH-1 instance capable of doing to fully understand it. 

Description: SCP-AHH is a lake located in the Foundation owned town of Bright Falls, Washington that acts as a Nexas point to an extradimensional pocket dimension. Within this pocket dimension is a god-like consciousness with the ability to bleed fiction and reality together. Because of its anomalous properties there is unfortunately no limit to what SCP-AHH can create, as it has been known to alter historical events, create entire Groups of Interest with people who never existed before, and even bring metaphysical monsters to life. 

As such SCP-AHH is a hazardous anomaly capable of causing an CK Class Reality Reconstruction Scenario. Though how it is able to become such a hazardous scenario is what has baffled Foundation staff for decades. SCP-AHH feeds off of the work of artists and writers, being able to not only grow stronger through their imagination but able to turn their works into reality. This can include bringing characters to life, making whatever happens in a story true, turning paintings into real world locations, and even giving each of these their own detailed history that automatically overrides any part of history that contradicts it. 

However as stated before SCP-AHH is a god like consciousness and has its own personality and desires. Its personality has had limited observation so the best the Foundation can say is that it's sadistic, clever, and very prideful. Furthermore SCP-AHH doesn't allow those who qualify as Artists and Writers to write freely, it will either possess them or manipulate them into creating whatever it wants. The entity is very malevolent, often trying to create vessels for itself so that it can leave the Pocket Dimension it is trapped in. This would lead to an HK Class Deific Subjugation Scenario as there would be nothing to stop SCP-AHH from altering the world however it wants and controlling the fate of all life on earth. 

Unfortunately, SCP-AHH quickly became aware of its isolated status due to the Foundation containing it. As such SCP-AHH has created anomalous monsters labeled as SCP-AHH-1 instances. SCP-AHH-1 instances are metaphysical entities of living darkness that can possess any living entity or non-living object. These entities obey the will of SCP-AHH-1 and try to destroy the town the Foundation created in hopes of allowing civilians to get near SCP-AHH again. SCP-AHH-1 instances and whatever they possess are technically immortal and even indestructible as no forms of physical damage can hurt them. Human beings tend to be what SCP-AHH-1 instances prefer to possess the most, this is another reason as to why no living Foundation staff are allowed anywhere close to SCP-AHH.

SCP-AHH-1 instances don't just possess as there are certain SCP-AHH-1 instances that are especially powerful enough to create their own physical bodies. Sometimes these artificial bodies take the form of shadow humans, shadow animals, black liquid, and even living natural disasters with the most common being tornadoes. Though even SCP-AHH-1 instances that can do this are not labeled differently as they share the same weaknesses and meta physiology as regular SCP-AHH-1 instances. Furthermore, their appearances are so rare that it's impossible to properly contain and therefore study them. 

SCP-AHH-1 instances can be weakened and even lose their ability to defect physical attacks when shined by light, the brighter the light the stronger the result. Once the dark barrier protection of the SCP-AHH-1 instances has broken, conventional weapons can be used to kill them. However, this process tends to take time and is tricky to enact, as such Foundation Laser Rifles are instead distributed to AFA-3 units guarding the town. Energy based attacks and even extremely bright light have been shown to kill SCP-AHH-1 instances quite easily. Furthermore, SCP-AHH-1 instances cannot survive in daylight as UV rays kill them instantly. It is for this reason UV light traps have been placed throughout the city. 

SCP-AHH was discovered in the early 1960's when an auteur filmmaker form Finland named Thomas Zane came to the original Bright Falls town surrounding SCP-AHH. As he started making new art, SCP-AHH was able to feed off his work to make certain aspects of his work come to life. Foundation satellites were able to detect the anomalous activity and as a response sent in Mobile Task Force Lambda-5 "White Rabbits" was deployed. 

Once SCP-AHH was discovered the Reality Fracture Dimensional Containment Field Engine, or an RFDCFE-20 for short, that was given to Lambda-5 was activated to create an energy field around SCP-AHH. The field was supposed to suppress SCP-AHH's abilities to the lake alone; unfortunately, the Foundation underestimated the reality warping abilities of SCP-AHH and the entire MTF units were wiped out or turned into powerful SCP-AHH-1 instances. 

Afterwards Joint Task Force Dionysus-4 "Flip the Script" was created consisting of units from MTF Beta-777, MTF Gamma-5, MTF Epsilon-6, MTF Iota-10, MTF Lambda-5, MTF Mu-13, MTF Omicron Rho, MTF Omega-0, MTF Omega-12, and MTF Omega-45. JTF Dionysus-4 was composed of 200 units, 20 coming from each respective original MTF unit. They used their various tactics and abilities to have all the citizens found, administered amnestics, and evacuated to different towns, all while fighting off SCP-AHH-1 instances wherever they appeared. The mission took five days and led to 44 casualties within JTF Dionysus-4. 

The town was originally fenced off with the cover story being an uncontainable gas leak flooded the city making it uninhabitable. However, as SCP-AHH-1 instances were getting created they started going beyond the town to attack and kidnap campers, hitchhikers, as well as inhabitants of other towns. Thus in 1970, the Foundation created AFA-3's programmed to think and act like humans, to be sent into the town disguised as regular civilians with their hidden mission being to observe and cull the SCP-AHH-1 instances. The fence and cover story remained to keep civilians out.

As more data was collected, eventually Foundation researchers were able to find the perfect way to contain SCP-AHH entirely thus Mobile Task Force Mnemosyne-Γ "The Darkest Minds hold the Strongest Pens" was created. The process to create beings powerful enough for MTF Mnemosyne-Γ took 20 years but finally in 1990 the MTF was deployed and managed to successfully suppress SCP-AHH's reality warping effects. Unfortunately, SCP-AHH-1 instances can still be created and leak out into our plane of existence. Furthermore, all previous reality alterations made by SCP-AHH cannot be reversed. To this day, the Foundation has no way to determine the full extent of SCP-AHH's damage on our reality. There is a working theory that SCP-AHH is responsible for creating several SCP's, Groups of Interest, and even The Reset itself but nothing has been confirmed.

.

SCP: Horror Movie Files

[vikingqueer]

blorbo from my odyssey......

[likeabxrdinflight]

I have a friend who's still highly cautious around covid because she's high risk but she keeps posting all these screenshots of tweets about covid studies on her instagram in an attempt to convince people that covid is still very dangerous

and it's not that covid isn't still potentially dangerous, but one quick google search has allowed me to find every study that she has referenced, and without fail, every single one of them has been working with pre-vaccine, pre-omicron data. the most recent one she's posting about is about cardiac conditions post covid, and wouldn't you know, the entire sample was taken from people who caught covid between march 2020 and january 2021.

this was pre-vaccine, pre-omicron, hell, it was pre-delta variant (remember that one). this was the wild type covid, which our bodies were least immune to. it was the type that was most known to be causing cardiac symptoms and blood clots. besides delta, it was the most deadly. and no one was vaccinated.

so yes, in that group of people, who were unfortunate enough to catch covid during that period, the results of this study are likely very valid- they are at increased risk of heart disease. and that should be talked about and studied more and if those people end up with cardiac symptoms they need to be receiving proper care.

but we should not be assuming, without further study, that these risks are still the same for those who've been vaccinated, or who only caught covid after the omicron variant became dominant (the omicron lineages have been pretty different from the wild type and other pre-omicron variants, so it's worth noting that). like this is a study that must be replicated with a post-vaccine, post-omicron sample before you will even remotely convince me that those cardiac risks are the same as they were before.

and it is driving me crazy that my friend, who is also fucking trained in how to read science, is posting this shit seemingly without looking at the actual papers or thinking about the context at all. like it is driving me absolutely bananas. these posts aren't even like, direct quotes from the papers, they're screenshots of randos on twitter talking about these papers, as if twitter rando knows jack shit about what they're talking about. like it's all well and good to still care about covid but could you at least do it with less of the fear mongering?

[more-flotsam-and-jetsam]

[sharemarketinsider]

Stock Market Update: What to Expect from the Indian Markets for the Week of October 21-27, 2024

[cld-n]

i swear everytime i go “oh it’d be good to get some face masks for now just in case” then i buy some, there’s literally news about a possible covid wave making the rounds again 🙄

[wahyugunawanpbb]

Jasa Disinfektan Rumah di Tangerang Selatan | 0813-8299-9966 | Garda Pest

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[xtruss]

A detail view of a face mask on September 24, 2021, in Kohler, Wisconsin. Donald Trump and conservatives across social media are heightening awareness to potential mask mandates due to new cases stemming from coronavirus variants. Richard Heathcote/Getty Images

United States: Mask Mandate Comeback Sparks 'We Will Not Comply' Movement

— By Nick Mordowanec | August 31, 2023

will not comply' movement is slowly formulating across social media, spurred by Donald Trump's renewed focus on mask mandates and COVID-affiliated lockdowns that he initiated at the pandemic's inception.

Trump, in a video posted Wednesday on X, formerly Twitter, vowed to reject any "fearmongering" of new coronavirus variants and if elected president pledged to cut federal funding for entities like schools and airlines that follow such protocols.

Trump was the individual who set the original mandates and lockdowns in motion, however, when coronavirus cases escalated exponentially starting in March 2020. At the time, he urged individuals to avoid bars, restaurants and other areas where 10 or more people were gathered in the hope that the virus would dissipate by that summer.

"'Do not comply' means your [sic] not going to go to work if your employer requires a mask as part of the 'mandate' not law; your [sic] not going to wear one at the Dr, Dentist, restaurant or stores," wrote one Facebook user. "Imagine if everyone did not comply how that would hurt our government or economy.

"If every American did not go to work or buy anything at all for one or two days things would get real. We are all slaves to our Government until we stop conforming to the demands and dollar."

New coronavirus variants now emerging with case spikes in certain parts of the United States include EG.5 and BA.2.86. Major companies like Pfizer and Moderna who were highly involved in the swift rollout of vaccines at the height of the pandemic are scheduled to release a new vaccine in mid-September to combat the omicron subvariant XBB.1.5, pending approval from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

A CDC spokesperson told Newsweek on Thursday via email that the center's advice for individual and community actions around COVID-19 is tied to hospital admission levels, which are currently low for more than 97 percent of the country.

"CDC continues to recommend that all people are up to date on their COVID-19 vaccines and take steps to themselves and others," the spokesperson said. "Anyone may choose to wear a mask at any time."

Time may tell whether the discussion around mandates and lockdowns is alarmist considering that very few places in the country have COVID-related measures currently in place.

One, for example, is Morris Brown College, a small Atlanta-based historically Black college, which told students to adhere to mask-wearing for a two-week period due to an influx of COVID-related cases.

"Dear Atlanta College, Regarding your precautionary mask mandate... I have a precautionary Foot I'd like to shove up you're a**!" wrote comedian and former Saturday Night Live actor Rob Schneider on X, in response to the Morris Brown mandate. "But don't worry, it's just for the next 14 days! For your own protection! Ps. Students WAKE UP, SHEEPLE! SAY NO!"

Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin released a video on X of her literally shaking her head when confronted with hypothetical mandates, even burning some masks outdoors.

Libs of Tik Tok, which has 2.4 million followers on X, is encouraging individuals to ignore all mandates and pledges to support impacted businesses—and even pay any fines for noncompliance.

One X user posted that she would ignore mandates instituted by Trump, President Joe Biden or anyone else.

"I won't mask again," the user wrote. "I don't care what Trump or Fauci or Birx or Biden or any other governmental agency try and push again. I won't deal with the anxiety mask wearing brings me again. Not going to cover my daughter's beautiful face or force her to deal with the frequent painful breakouts again. Nope. For my child, I say, never again."

[ricisidro]

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Jun Isidro (@rcisidro)

The new #COVID19vaccines available next month once approved by both US FDA and CDC will target the #XBB variants — which are now the most common form in circulation. The #Omicron #bivalent vaccine targets the #BA4 and #BA5 variants.

[genderqueerdykes]

the COVID 2024-2025 vaccine is now available in some areas, please look into getting yours ASAP

i am a COVID survivor who is dealing with long COVID and permanent lung damage due to having caught the virus in October of 2023. this isn't a flu or a cold. this disease causes serious, permanent long term damage. i'm still struggling with even worse brain fog than i already had previously and sometimes it becomes extremely hard for me to breathe, even in good conditions.

COVID has been surging like crazy in the US this summer due to folks socializing more closely and masking no longer being required in most places. social distancing does not happen here anymore. we need to protect ourselves even while there are not mandates and rules in place stating that you MUST be masked (you still should be masking).

the CDC is stating that everyone ages 6 months and older should get the 2024–2025 COVID-19 vaccine:

even if you have been vaccinated in the past you still need to keep up with current vaccines as their protection decreases over time, and COVID continues to mutate and become different strains that are resistant to previous vaccines. staying up to date and masking are the only ways to stay safe. viruses mutate to adapt to their hosts, and COVID is no different.

there are currently 5 variants of the Omicron strain of COVID that are responsible for the uptick in recent cases:

from a COVID survivor who doesn't want to go through this shit a second time: vaccinate. wear your masks. wash your hands. social distance. quarantine when sick. take this seriously. it's been 4 years and COVID has done nothing but prove it is here to stay unless we make a huge change in our society.

[covid-safer-hotties]

FDA Approves and Authorizes Updated mRNA COVID-19 Vaccines to Better Protect Against Currently Circulating Variants - Published Aug 22, 2024

Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved and granted emergency use authorization (EUA) for updated mRNA COVID-19 vaccines (2024-2025 formula) to include a monovalent (single) component that corresponds to the Omicron variant KP.2 strain of SARS-CoV-2. The mRNA COVID-19 vaccines have been updated with this formula to more closely target currently circulating variants and provide better protection against serious consequences of COVID-19, including hospitalization and death. Today’s actions relate to updated mRNA COVID-19 vaccines manufactured by ModernaTX Inc. and Pfizer Inc.

In early June, the FDA advised manufacturers of licensed and authorized COVID-19 vaccines that the COVID-19 vaccines (2024-2025 formula) should be monovalent JN.1 vaccines. Based on the further evolution of SARS-CoV-2 and a rise in cases of COVID-19, the agency subsequently determined and advised manufacturers that the preferred JN.1-lineage for the COVID-19 vaccines (2024-2025 formula) is the KP.2 strain, if feasible.

“Vaccination continues to be the cornerstone of COVID-19 prevention,” said Peter Marks, M.D., Ph.D., director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research. “These updated vaccines meet the agency’s rigorous, scientific standards for safety, effectiveness, and manufacturing quality. Given waning immunity of the population from previous exposure to the virus and from prior vaccination, we strongly encourage those who are eligible to consider receiving an updated COVID-19 vaccine to provide better protection against currently circulating variants.”

The updated mRNA COVID-19 vaccines include Comirnaty and Spikevax, both of which are approved for individuals 12 years of age and older, and the Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine and Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine, both of which are authorized for emergency use for individuals 6 months through 11 years of age.

What You Need to Know

=Unvaccinated individuals 6 months through 4 years of age are eligible to receive three doses of the updated, authorized Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine or two doses of the updated, authorized Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine.

=Individuals 6 months through 4 years of age who have previously been vaccinated against COVID-19 are eligible to receive one or two doses of the updated, authorized Moderna or =Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines (timing and number of doses to administer depends on the previous COVID-19 vaccine received).

=Individuals 5 years through 11 years of age regardless of previous vaccination are eligible to receive a single dose of the updated, authorized Moderna or Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines; if previously vaccinated, the dose is administered at least 2 months after the last dose of any COVID-19 vaccine.

=Individuals 12 years of age and older are eligible to receive a single dose of the updated, approved Comirnaty or the updated, approved Spikevax; if previously vaccinated, the dose is administered at least 2 months since the last dose of any COVID-19 vaccine.

=Additional doses are authorized for certain immunocompromised individuals ages 6 months through 11 years of age as described in the Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine and Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine fact sheets.

=Individuals who receive an updated mRNA COVID-19 vaccine may experience similar side effects as those reported by individuals who previously received mRNA COVID-19 vaccines and as described in the respective prescribing information or fact sheets. The updated vaccines are expected to provide protection against COVID-19 caused by the currently circulating variants. Barring the emergence of a markedly more infectious variant of SARS-CoV-2, the FDA anticipates that the composition of COVID-19 vaccines will need to be assessed annually, as occurs for seasonal influenza vaccines.

For today’s approvals and authorizations of the mRNA COVID-19 vaccines, the FDA assessed manufacturing and nonclinical data to support the change to include the 2024-2025 formula in the mRNA COVID-19 vaccines. The updated mRNA vaccines are manufactured using a similar process as previous formulas of these vaccines. The mRNA COVID-19 vaccines have been administered to hundreds of millions of people in the U.S., and the benefits of these vaccines continue to outweigh their risks.

On an ongoing basis, the FDA will review any additional COVID-19 vaccine applications submitted to the agency and take appropriate regulatory action.

The approval of Comirnaty (COVID-19 Vaccine, mRNA) (2024-2025 Formula) was granted to BioNTech Manufacturing GmbH. The EUA amendment for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine (2024-2025 Formula) was issued to Pfizer Inc.

The approval of Spikevax (COVID-19 Vaccine, mRNA) (2024-2025 Formula) was granted to ModernaTX Inc. and the EUA amendment for the Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine (2024-2025 Formula) was issued to ModernaTX Inc.

[lotus-tower]

The Swiss Cheese Model of Covid Prevention

An edited version of the swiss cheese model tailored towards the measures that you as an individual can take to minimize your risk of infection. Public health is ultimately what its name implies, public, but that doesn't mean you're powerless.

Covid prevention is not all-or-nothing. Think of it as risk reduction, rather than a binary.

Let's go through these step by step.

VACCINES

The current vaccines are meant primarily to reduce chances of severe illness, hospitalization, and death. They will reduce your chance of infection a bit--but not nearly as much as you might think. You should still get your boosters regularly, because avoiding severe illness is of course worth doing.

If you haven't gotten the updated monovalent vaccine yet, go get it. It is not a booster. Think of it as a new vaccine. It's targeted towards the XBB lineages, which are now the most common variants. Your last boosters were likely of the bivalent type, aimed at both the original Covid strain from 2020 and Omicron. The new vaccine is monovalent, meaning it targets one family in particular.

Some studies suggest that the Novavax vaccine, which is a more traditional protein-based vaccine, is more effective and safer than mRNA vaccines, and offers better protection against future variants. Of course, the data we have so far isn't 100% conclusive (the last paper I linked is a preprint). Make of these findings what you will, just something to keep in mind. The new Novavax vaccine's availability is still limited, especially outside of the US.

MASKS

Masking is one of the most effective ways to protect yourself. While it is true that masking and reducing Covid transmission protects those around you, the idea that masks can't protect the wearer is outdated information from the early days of the pandemic when medical authorities refused to acknowledge that Covid is airborne.

The key to protecting yourself is to wear a well-fitting respirator. You want to minimize any gaps where air might leak out. If your glasses get fogged up, that's a sign that air is leaking.

Headbands will always have a tighter fit than earloop masks (and therefore provide better protection). However, you can use earloop extenders to improve the fit of earloop masks. You can find these online. Your comfort in wearing a mask is important, but there are options for compromise.

The above graphic doesn't include elastomeric respirators. While some (like the Flo Mask) are expensive, they can be much more affordable than buying disposables--look for P100 respirators at your local hardware store, but make sure it fits your face well.

For more general information, see this FAQ. For mask recommendations (NA-centric, sorry!), see my list here or Mask Nerd's YouTube channel.

For situations where you need to hydrate but don't want to take your mask off, consider the SIP valve.

Not even N95s are foolproof (N95 means it filters at least 95% of particles--with the other 5% potentially reaching you). Most people will likely not have a perfect fit. There will be situations where you'll have to take your mask off. The key is risk reduction, and that's why the Swiss cheese model is crucial.

If you can't afford high-quality masks, look for a local mask bloc or other organization that gives out free masks. Project N95 has unfortunately shut down. In Canada, there's donatemask.ca.

AVOID CROWDED INDOOR SPACES

This is rather self-explanatory. Indoor transmission is much, much, much more likely than outdoor transmission. If it's possible to move an activity outdoors instead, consider doing so.

If possible, try going to places like stores or the post office during less busy hours.

Viral particles can stay in the air for a considerable amount of time even after the person who expelled them has left. Do not take off your mask just because no one is currently present, if you know that it was previously crowded.

A CO2 monitor is a decent proxy for how many viral particles may have accumulated in the air around you. The gold standard is the Aranet4, but it's expensive, so here are some more affordable alternatives.

VENTILATION AND AIR FILTERS

Ventilation is effective for the same reason that outdoors is safer than indoors. If it's warm enough, keep windows open whenever possible. If it's cold, even cracking them open occasionally is better than nothing. Try to open windows or doors on different sides of a room to maximize airflow.

HEPA air filters can significantly reduce viral transmission indoors. Make sure to find one suitable for the room size, and replace the filters regularly. You want to look for devices with HEPA-13 filters.

You can use websites like these to calculate how long it takes for a device to change all the air in a room. Remember what I said about viral particles being able to hang around even after people have left? If an air purifier provides 2 air changes per hour, that means that after 30 minutes, any potential viral particles should be gone.

If you can't afford a commercial air filter, here's a useful DIY filter you can make with relatively simple materials. The filtration capacity is great--but due to being built with duct tape, replacing filters will be a challenge.

If you have to hold meetings or meet with people at work, having a smaller filter on the desk between you will also reduce chances of infection.

As a bonus, HEPA filters will also filter out other things like dust and allergens!

REDUCE LENGTH OF EXPOSURE IF EXPOSURE IS UNAVOIDABLE

Viral load refers to the amount of virus in a person's blood. If you've been exposed to someone with Covid, how much you've been exposed matters.

You might escape infection if the viral load you've been exposed to is very small. Or, even if you get infected, there will be less virus in you overall, leading to milder illness--and crucially, a lower chance of the virus penetrating deep into your body, creating reservoirs in your organs and wreaking long-term havoc.

A low viral load is also less contagious.

This is the same reason that wearing your mask most of the time, but having to take it off for eating, is still much better than not wearing your mask at all.

RECHARGEABLE PORTABLE AIR FILTERS

You might attract some odd looks. But if you're at high risk or just want to be as protected as possible, small portable air filters can help. Try to find models small enough to take with you on public transportation, to school, or while traveling.

These devices will be far too small to clean the air in the whole room. The goal is to have it filter air in your immediate vicinity. Be sure to angle the device so that the air is blowing in your face.

Unfortunately, rechargeable devices are much rarer and harder to find than normal air filters, and many are also expensive.

The best option at the moment, apart from DIY (which is possible, but you need to know what you're doing), seems to be the SmartAir QT3. The size and shape are a bit clunky, but it fits in a backpack. Its battery life isn't long, but it can be supplemented with a power bank.

NASAL SPRAYS

There's some research that suggests that some nasal sprays may be effective in reducing risk of infection by interfering with viruses' ability to bind to your cells.

These sprays are generally affordable, easy to find, and safe. The key ingredient is carrageenan, which is extracted from seaweed. So there are no potential risks or side effects.

Be sure to follow the instructions on the packaging carefully. Here's a video on how to properly use nasal sprays if you've never used them before.

Covixyl is another type of nasal spray that uses a different key ingredient, ethyl lauroyl arginate HCI. It also aims to disrupt viruses' ability to bind to cell walls. Unfortunately, I think it's difficult to obtain outside of the US.

CONCLUSION

None of the methods listed here are foolproof on their own. But by layering them, you can drastically reduce your chances of infection.

The most important layers, by far, are masking and air quality. But you should also stay conscientious when engaging with those layers. Don't let yourself become complacent with rules of thumb, and allow yourself to assess risk and make thought out decisions when situations arise where you might have to take off your mask or enter a high-risk indoor area, such as a hospital.

Remember that the goal is risk reduction. It's impossible to live risk-free, because we live among countless other people. But you can use knowledge and tools to keep yourself as safe as possible.

[mariacallous]

Updated vaccines against Covid-19 are coming, just as hospitalizations and deaths due to the virus are steadily ticking up again.

Today, the US Food and Drug Administration authorized new mRNA booster shots from Moderna and Pfizer, and a panel of outside experts that advises the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention voted to recommend the shots to everyone in the United States ages 6 months and older. Once Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director Mandy Cohen signs off on the recommendations and the vaccines are shipped, people can start getting the boosters.

The recommendation is projected to prevent about 400,000 hospitalizations and 40,000 deaths over the next two years, according to data presented at the meeting by CDC epidemiologist Megan Wallace.

This year’s mRNA vaccines are different from the 2022 booster in a key way. Last year’s shot was a bivalent vaccine, meaning it covered two variants: the original one that emerged in China in 2019, plus the Omicron subvariant BA.5, which was circulating during much of 2022. This fall’s booster drops the original variant, which is no longer circulating and is unlikely to return. It targets just the Omicron subvariant XBB.1.5, which was dominant throughout much of 2023.

Pfizer and Moderna’s vaccines work by introducing a tiny piece of genetic material called messenger RNA, or mRNA, that carries instructions for making SARS-CoV-2’s characteristic spike protein. Once it is injected, cells in the body use those instructions to temporarily make the spike protein. The immune system recognizes the protein as foreign and generates antibodies against it. Those antibodies stick around so that if they encounter that foreign invader again, they will mount a response against it.

Since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, the virus has acquired new mutations in its spike protein and elsewhere. These mutations result in new variants and subvariants that diverge from the original virus. When enough mutations accumulate, these new versions can more easily evade the antibodies created by previous vaccine doses or infections.

The constantly evolving nature of the virus is the reason health regulators decided last year to update the original mRNA vaccines, which were designed against the version of the virus that first appeared in 2019. This year, once again, the virus has changed enough to warrant an updated booster.

In June, an advisory committee to the FDA recommended that this fall’s booster be a monovalent vaccine—targeting only the then-dominant XBB.1.5 subvariant.

At that meeting, committee members reviewed evidence suggesting that the inclusion of the original variant may hamper the booster’s effectiveness against newer offshoots. “The previous bivalent vaccine contained the ancestral spike and thus skewed immune responses to the old spike,” says David Ho, a professor of microbiology at Columbia University whose research, which is not yet peer-reviewed, was among the evidence the FDA panel reviewed. “This is what we call immunological imprinting, and it results in lack of immune responses to the new spike.” He thinks taking out the old variant should optimize the immune response.

But over the past few months, even newer Omicron offshoots have arrived. Currently, EG.5.1, or Eris, is the dominant one in the United States, United Kingdom, and China. Meanwhile, a variant called BA.2.86, or Pirola, has been detected in several countries. Pirola has raised alarm bells because it has more than 30 new mutations compared to XBB.1.5.

Even though the new boosters were formulated against XBB.1.5, they’re still expected to provide protection against these new variants. “The reason is, while antibodies are important in protection against mild disease, the critical part of the immune response that’s important for protecting against severe disease is T cells,” says Paul Offit, a professor of vaccinology at the University of Pennsylvania and member of the FDA’s vaccine advisory committee.

These cells are a different part of the immune response. Unlike antibodies, which neutralize a pathogen by preventing it from infecting cells, T cells work by eliminating the cells that have already been invaded and boosting creation of more antibodies. Both the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech Covid vaccines produce long-lasting T cells in addition to antibodies.

It’s why, Offit says, when the Omicron wave hit in late 2021 and peaked in January 2022, the US didn’t see a dramatic increase in hospitalizations and deaths even as cases rose significantly: People’s T cells kicked into gear, even when their antibodies didn’t recognize the Omicron variant.

“In some ways,” says Offit, when it comes to vaccine booster development, “it almost doesn’t matter what we pick to target” because the coronavirus has yet to evolve away from T cell recognition. “Everything works.”

Scientists think T cells are able to protect against severe Covid because they’re recognizing parts of the virus that have remained unchanged throughout the pandemic. “I suspect that as we continue to vaccinate, there are some conserved regions [of the virus],” says Jacqueline Miller, Moderna’s head of infectious diseases. “So even with the accumulation of mutations, we’re still building on previous immunity.”

People who have hybrid immunity—that is, have had a Covid infection and have also been vaccinated—seem to have the best immune responses to new variants, she says, which suggests that previous exposure shapes and improves immune responses to new variants. Preliminary studies show that antibodies generated by previous infections and vaccinations should be capable of neutralizing Pirola.

Earlier this month, Moderna issued a press release saying that clinical trial data showed that its updated booster generated a strong immune response against Pirola, as well as the more prevalent Eris variant.

In a statement to WIRED, Pfizer spokesperson Jerica Pitts said the company continues to closely monitor emerging variants and conduct tests of its updated monovalent booster against them. Data presented at Tuesday’s CDC meeting showed that Pfizer-BioNTech’s updated booster elicited a strong neutralizing antibody response against both Eris and Pirola.

The FDA expects that Covid-19 vaccines will continue to be updated on an annual basis, unless a completely new variant emerges that requires a different approach. “We will always be a little behind the virus,” says Ho. “In this instance, we won’t suffer too much, but that might not be the case going forward. Surveillance is imperative.”