#fitness Thanksgiving Deals 2022

[myfitnessansweronlinetraining]

My Fitness Answer Offers Exciting Thanksgiving Deals 2022 to Individuals Looking to Join a Fitness Program

As thanksgiving Day approaches, My Fitness Answer has a sweet, sweet surprise for you! Our Thanksgiving Day health and fitness offers will help you reach your fitness goals. Sign up today and take a step toward fitness transformation.

[dankusner]

Dallas’ 10 tallest buildings

Since its tallest buildings were completed in the 1980s the Dallas skyline has remained fairly consistent. At least on the outside.

Within the walls of Dallas’ glass and steel behemoths things are constantly changing.

The latest change comes with the news that Dallas’ tallest tower, the Bank of America Plaza, has found a new owner.

Mike Hoque of Hoque Global and Mike Ablon of PegasusAblon said they intend to purchase the skyscraper and expect the deal to close in March 2025.

Since the skyscraper boom in the 1980s Dallas hasn’t added any buildings that crack the city’s top 10.

The 45-story AMLI Fountain Place apartment building completed in 2020 is the tallest since and ranks No. 15.

A report last year found the city has about 22,000 feet of skyscrapers, third in the state behind Houston’s 30,498 feet and Austin’s 24,000 feet.

Despite the stagnation in building new skyscrapers, the last decade has seen a raft of ownership changes and renovations among Dallas’ biggest and most iconic buildings.

Here’s a list of the ten tallest skyscrapers in the city and some background on each to keep you up to date.

Bank of America Plaza, 921 feet

The 72-story Bank of America Plaza has been Dallas’ tallest building since it was completed in 1985. At night, the building is easily recognizable from its signature green LEDs. Bank of America, the tower’s namesake and largest tenant, announced in 2023 that it would leave the building in 2027 and relocate about 1,000 workers to a tower under construction in Uptown. About a fourth of the retail space at Bank of America Plaza is vacant. With that massive change on the horizon, the prospective owners have outlined a plan to reshape the building and surrounding areas with a $350 million investment in building a hotel, adding restaurants and a new parking garage.

Renaissance Tower, 886 feet

First completed in 1974, The Renaissance Tower was once the tallest building in the city. It held that title until 1985 when the Bank of America Plaza was completed. The building was designed by Hellmuth, Obata & Kassabaum, the same architecture firm that designed DFW International Airport. The following year, the 56-story Renaissance Tower underwent a major renovation that brought it to its current height of 886 feet. It was sold to San Antonio-based real estate developer and investor GrayStreet Partners in 2022. Shortly after, the tower announced plans to convert more than half of the building’s 1.73 million square feet of office space to apartments.

Comerica Bank Tower, 787 feet

Completed in 1987, Comerica Bank Tower was among the last of the large skyscrapers that went up in the 1980s. Its 60 stories offer 1.5 million square feet of office space in the heart of downtown. A renovation, completed in 2020, added new lobby areas and made other interior improvements to attract new tenants. Its architect, Philip Johnson, completed notable projects across the country and made his mark in North Texas with this tower and his designs of Thanksgiving Square in downtown Dallas and the Fort Worth Water Gardens. An affiliate of Slate Asset Management took full ownership of the building in May, buying it from Dallas-based TriGate Capital and Woods Capital. The previous owners had announced plans last year to turn the tower into a mixed-use development. The new owners have stuck to those plans with more than half a million square feet in the tower currently vacant.

Dallas Arts Tower, 738 feet

Formerly the Chase Tower, this 55-story building was completed in 1987 is currently undergoing renovations expected to be completed early in 2025. Its website touts “a new beginning” for the tower and lists two new restaurants, a fitness center and an all-day café as some of the improvements.

The tower lost its former namesake JPMorgan Chase in 2021 after the bank moved to a smaller tower overlooking Klyde Warren Park. As a result, the tower was renamed in 2023.

Fountain Place, 720 feet

The News’ architecture critic Mark Lamster recently wrote that the 58-story Fountain Place is a “magical, shape-shifting masterpiece.” The unusually shaped glass prism has been one of Dallas’ most architecturally significant high-rises since it was completed in 1986. Fountain Place, designed by longtime I.M. Pei collaborator Henry N. Cobb, was originally meant to be a part of a two-tower complex. That plan didn’t come to fruition until 2020 when AMLI Fountain Place, a 45-story residential tower, opened next door. In 2019, the original tower completed a series of renovations totaling approximately $50 million.

Trammell Crow Center, 686 feet

Another mid-1980s skyscraper, the 50-story Trammell Crow Center was completed in 1984 and presently boasts 1.1 million square feet of downtown office space. California-based real estate investor Regency Properties bought the tower for an estimated price above $600 million in 2022. The previous owner spent $140 million on renovations to the entire first two floors of the building. Completed in 2019, the makeover gave the building an entirely new entry and added new retail and restaurant space on the lower levels.

1700 Pacific, 660 feet

This 49-story high-rise was completed in 1983 and it announced plans for a $10 million renovation in 2018. Those plans looked to bolster the tower’s retail and dining options on lower levels. The skyscraper’s owners, Canadian real estate firm Olymbec Group, put the building for sale in 2019 when occupancy was at just 40% in the 1.35 million square foot tower.

Santander Tower, 645 feet

The 50-story skyscraper, formerly known as the Thanksgiving Tower, is home to the headquarters of auto lender Santander Consumer USA. The company recommitted to the tower earlier this year with a 211,000 square foot lease and retaining naming rights. The tower has undergone major renovations in recent years aimed at turning it from office space into a mixed-use building. A hotel opened on the top two floors back in 2021. The new Peridot luxury apartments that take up 11 floors in the building began renting last year.

The Sinclair, 629 feet

The Sinclair is another recently renamed skyscraper in downtown Dallas. Formerly called Energy Plaza, the building was designed by the influential architect I.M. Pei and completed in 1983. Pei’s other works in Dallas include Dallas City Hall and the Meyerson Symphony Center. Nearly 40 years later, the building underwent extensive renovations to convert vacant office space into more than 290 luxury apartment units. Dallas developer Todd Interests bought the building in 2022 before spending $300 million on the conversion from office space to mixed-use. The tower reopened earlier this year and began renting out the new apartments.

The National, 625 feet

The oldest of Dallas’ tallest buildings, the National was completed in 1965.

It was the tallest building west of the Mississippi River when it opened and remained the tallest in Dallas until the Renaissance Tower was built in 1974. It originally housed the offices of First National Bank, which gives the revamped building its name. The historic building, then called Elm Place, was closed in 2010 with occupancy rates below 20% of available office space. The empty building is now reborn after an ambitious $460 million renovation that turned the Dallas landmark into a mixed-use property downtown. Completed in 2020, the remade 51-story building now has 26 floors of apartments, a posh Thompson Hotel and several restaurants.

[jcmarchi]

Cyber Monday fraud prevention tips 2023; CyberTalk.org

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/cyber-monday-fraud-prevention-tips-2023-cybertalk-org/

Cyber Monday fraud prevention tips 2023; CyberTalk.org

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:

Excited about stocking up on everyday home essentials, epic electronics or must-have fitness gear? This November 27th, Cyber Monday will be the season’s second-major shopping event, second-only to Black Friday, with mega-sales and deep discounts that are accessible from the comfort of your couch.

Founded by the National Retail Federation in 2005, Cyber Monday was originally intended to promote online-only deals, in an effort to reduce in-store Black Friday foot-traffic. However, due to an uptick in e-commerce, both commercial holidays are now intertwined. Whether you shop on Black Friday, Cyber Monday or both, it pays to be a cyber savvy consumer.

In 2022, nearly 20% of U.S. online retail transactions that occurred between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday were fraudulent. Americans lost more than $337 million dollars, according to the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation. Cyber awareness and vigilance pays – Obviously, nothing beats spending the holiday season on-hold with your bank’s fraud department (just kidding).

6 Cyber Monday fraud prevention tips

This season, proactively prevent fraud.

1. Stay savvy when it comes to scams. Take a moment to review the latest holiday scam tactics. For instance, some scammers may set up fake online stores and send you emails advertising slashed prices on popular goods. Top Cyber Monday scams include those related to fake websites, gift cards, multi-factor authentication phishing, and fake charities.

2. Shop from a secure connection. Ensure that your computer or phone is protected by antivirus software. Otherwise, the risk of accidentally downloading malware increases. Avoid making purchases from cafes or other public spaces, as cyber schemers could intercept public Wi-Fi communications or ‘shoulder surf.’

3. Only shop on secure sites. Regardless of whether you’re browsing sites belonging to well-known retailers or smaller vendors, verify that the web page you’re visiting is legitimate. Here’s how: When visiting any website, look for the little lock icon in the top left corner of your browser bar. Also, be sure that you see HTTPS in the browser bar.

While there is no single solution that can help everyone easily distinguish fraudulent websites from legitimate ones, and cyber criminals can imitate both the lock icon and HTTPS, other means of site verification include checking for domain misspellings, and accessing sites by searching for them on Google, rather than by clicking on links embedded within emails.

4. Strive for strong passwords. If you create accounts with retailers to streamline and simplify the shopping process, be sure to protect the account with a strong password. Cyber criminals may employ tactics like password spraying to steal credit card numbers, but a strong password can help protect you from this type of cyber threat.

5. Consider credit over debt. If concerned about online retail security, consider making purchases with a credit card rather than a debt card. The advantage of using a credit card is that real money never leaves your bank account. In addition, credit card fraud may be easier to resolve than debt card fraud, for which you could be on the hook for a larger portion of the stolen funds.

6. Post-holiday shopping fraud review. After you’ve completed your shopping for the season, take a few minutes to review your bank and credit card transactions. Glance at your transactions daily or every few days. Ensure that amounts are correct. Look for fraudulent transactions. Should you identify any unknown purchases or obvious fraud incidents, contact your card service provider as soon as possible.

Further information

If you’re concerned about the legitimacy of a site, an advertisement, otherwise suspect malicious intent, you might want to pass on that bargain and instead tell yourself that you’ll look forward to future buying opportunities. It beats contending with bureaucracy and bank fraud.

Lastly, prior to starting your Cyber Monday shopping, take a few minutes to ensure that your web browser, antivirus and operating systems are up-to-date.

Learn more about advanced security solutions here. Discover timely trends, expert analysis, premium business whitepapers, and so much more when you subscribe to the CyberTalk.org newsletter.

[coghive]

[Music Video] Letting Go – Jlyricz

Jlyricz’s new single “Letting Go” is a Christian groovy Afropop praise/worship song that deals with the relationship of a clingy Christian who has learned to depend entirely on God. The song revolves around themes like praise, adulation, thanksgiving, love and faith. The opening line “God! Your love na the finest thing wey dey my life” sets the tone for the beautiful tune and it stays beautiful till the last note. “Why I go tell you bye-bye when na you get my life…”, also pushes that further with Jlyricz pouring out his heart over the bopping instrumentals produced by long-term collaborator E-Mex. Letting Go is a tailor-made praise groove anthem which would mostly appeal to youths and the young at heart. It’s a song that will bop at a party, in the car and even at the gym while you run the treadmill or lift those weights. Jlyricz would be looking to perform the song at the Spirit & Groove intimate concerts which will be held in December as he also prepares for the premier of his first Fashion & Music showcase; Spirit & Style which is slated for the first quarter of 2023. Letting Go is written and arranged by Jlyricz while production is handled by long-term collaborator E-Mex. Watch Video & Download Audio Below; https://youtu.be/Ps7qSLYr9cA https://coghive.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Jlyricz-Letting-Go.mp3 Lyrics: Letting Go By Jlyricz God Your love na the finest thing wey dey my life God Your love na the finest thing wey dey my life Nothing come close no one fit to try Na coz of You dem dey say I dey shine Me I dey shine o Oh God na because of You I never lose my mind All the things I don see for dis life Fit to make a man go mad go mad Why I go tell You bye bye When na You get my life And na You dey lift me high Without You I go go down Thank You for your sweet sweet grace Where me I go dey without Your grace All I am na coz of Your grace o Your grace o Sweet sweet Baba mi I’m never letting go Amazing Baba mi I’m never letting go Sweet sweet Baba mi I’m never letting go Amazing Baba mi I’m never letting go Don’t don’t stop Shower your blessings on me don’t stop The way You dey loving me don’t stop I will follow You non-stop You’re all I need Lord There’s no place I’d rather be Than Your presence oh Lord coz in You is everything Oh God na because of You I never lose my mind All the things I don see for dis life Fit to make a man go mad go mad Why I go tell You bye bye When na You get my life And na You dey lift me high Without You I go go down Thank You for your sweet sweet grace Where me I go dey without Your grace All I am na coz of Your grace o Your grace o Sweet sweet Baba mi I’m never letting go Amazing Baba mi I’m never letting go Sweet sweet Baba mi I’m never letting go Amazing Baba mi I’m never letting go Read the full article

[lunaleetarot]

Aries 2021 Year Ahead Birthday Spread

Starting from the top clockwise, theme in the middle.

March 2021- King of Wands

This March you will accomplish something within your hobby or a passionate interest. If this doesn’t resonate with you, it could be an important male figure like your father, father-figure or husband. This is a card of pure passion. The King of Wands becomes consumed by the things he wants. You're ready to dive in and excited to learn about the process of achieving your pursuits. There will be a lot of confidence. You will want to be center stage. You’ll have good ideas and want to take charge of others. Now is the time to shake things up, while you're on the cutting edge. You're certain of your convictions and will fight for them until the end. Be careful not to become too dictatorial. The world isn’t black and white. You may be dealing with someone born on the Cancer-Leo Cusp (July 19-25) 2. April 2021- Three of Pentacles

In April you will begin a period of self-development. You will put the talents and skills you were born with to good use. This could mean furthering your education, taking up an apprenticeship or working on your craft. I feel this is likely what you were passionate about last month. This will be something you have natural talent in, so your efforts won’t go unnoticed. This training will pay off in the end. This learning is the start of your journey, not the end. Push yourself during this time. Beware of arrogance, no matter how talented we are at something, we could always fine tune our craft. You may be dealing with someone born on Capricorn second decan (January 3-9)

3. May 2021- Two of Cups

As May flowers bloom, true love will be coming into your life. You receive positive interactions in your life. Your intimate relationship will be on your mind, and if single you will likely meet an interesting person this month. This person has soulmate potential. Even if it isn’t true for your love life, this card means two people sharing close bonds. So it could be a new friend who will become a best friend to you. If you're trying to conceive this card can symbolize twins, but this won’t be true for most of you.

4. June 2021- Five of Wands

Competitions are ahead for you in June. A rivalry will present itself during this time. This may be a friendly competitiveness, not of a very serious nature. This is a sportsmanship card. Other times, these battles can be more harmful. I feel for most of you this will not be a very serious situation. Likely something to do with you honing your craft mentioned above. With this tension you will be presented with an opportunity to prove yourself. Will you sink or swim, Aries? You may be dealing with a Leo here.

5.July 2021- The Empress

This is a card of creation or pregnancy. There’s no denying this card means literal conception. This could be your child or someone close to you like your sister or a friend. If you're in a loving relationship, this will likely lead to a pregnancy of your own. However if a baby is unlikely or impossible, this can also mean an abundant outcome. You could “birth” a new idea or concept. Dark thoughts may be coming out of a dark cave and out into the open. Finances for this month will improve. Try to relax a little and have fun during this hazy summer period.

6.August 2021- Ace of Wands

You’ll be creating something that will have a huge impact this month. This could be a life changing event like a new job or a child. I feel with the Empress above you may get news of a pregnancy, but this won’t be true for all of you. You’ll be enthusiastic about your career opportunities and hobbies if a baby isn’t in store for you. If this is a pregnancy for you, it’s likely this will be a male baby. If this is about a new opportunity be careful not to abandon the project once it isn’t fun anymore.

7. September 2021- Knight of Pentacles

Patience will be needed as summer turns into autumn. This is the slowest moving card of the tarot. I feel like most Aries are the type of people who want everything done yesterday. This card is telling you that you're going to have to slow down and wait. Don’t jump ship on a project because the results aren’t instant. If you stick to it the hard work will pay off. There will likely be an increase in responsibility. It’s likely you will have to take on more burdens at work or home. You may be dealing with someone on the Leo-Virgo cusp (August 19-25).

8. October 2021- Three of Swords

In October, you may be facing some heartache. This Halloween will be an emotionally painful time for you. Your relationship may be falling apart, or something else along those lines. To make matters worse, others will be involved as well. This will be a period of sadness. This card is often a warning of a breakup or divorce. However this could be a temporary break or separation for some of you. This could be due to infidelity. Or some instead of out right cheating, someone new may come along in you or your partner's life that makes you question your relationship. If your relationship is rock solid or your single, someone close to you may start to pull away from you- leaving you feeling betrayed. This is also a card of miscarriage or infertility but that won’t be true for most of you. You may be dealing with a Libra here.

9. November 2021- King of Swords

Logical thinking will be your main concern this November. You will use your brain to get one over on your enemies. Not only will you be quick-witted and sharp, you will likely hold a position of great responsibility. You will be able to hold your own in any argument or debate. A plus with Thanksgiving family dinner around the corner. However court cards can represent other people in your life, so someone else in your life may fit this description. This person may help or hinder a situation you’re in. This person may be harshly judging you. This person is likely a man- and is watching you with great interest. If this doesn’t represent another person it could be a sign you have to separate yourself from your feelings. You must think with your head instead of your heart. You may be dealing with someone born on the Capricorn-Aquarius cusp (January 17-January 22).

10. December 2021- Ace of Cups

Pure and innocent love is coming to you in December. This card usually makes an appearance at the beginning of a relationship. However this card also represents child birth and pregnancy. You will likely have a new beginning after some sort of tragic ending. This card also has to do with food and drink, so you may be going out on a lot of dinner dates with friends or a special someone. This holiday season should be a merry one for you, Aries.

11. January 2022- Seven of Swords

During the new year, someone in your life or yourself may be up to no good. Someone will be spending their time planning drama or conflict. You may have surrounded yourself with people who are not loyal to you. These are people you think are your friend, but they will throw you under the bus the first chance they get. They want something you have and are willing to hurt you to get it. This card can also mean you will get the blame for something you didn’t do. You may try to get away with something that you know you shouldn’t be doing. This can be an affair, scandal or even breaking the law. Lastly, you could be involved in a situation where you tell yourself that everything is fine, but deep down you know you're unhappy. Your self deception will begin to affect you emotionally. You may be dealing with someone born on the Aquarius third decan (February 8-15).

12. February 2022- Ace of Swords

As we move into February, you will get to the source of trouble in your life. This can represent the start of a conflict. You may find out where drama has started in your life. However since we're dealing with an ace here, you will have the opportunity to turn things around. This is an extreme card. You will either experience great love or great hate. Hopefully it’s love with Valentine’s day around the corner. You’ll have extra stamina this month to get tasks done that are needed. Be careful of health treatments or accidents that involve knives or scalpels. Accidents, surgeries or dentists and c-sections are all possible with this card. A situation will progress very quickly at this time.

13. Theme of the Year- Ten of Wands

Burdens are the main theme of this card, and I feel it will be for your year ahead too. You will have to work hard this year, you will have to put in a lot more effort than you ever had to previously. You will be faced with the choice. Are you going to pull up your sleeves and get to work or give up? This card isn’t telling you to go either way- it only serves as a warning. In this case, you have a challenging year ahead Aries. You’ll have a lot on your plate. You may be juggling work, family and your home life. You go to bed at night thinking of all the work ahead of you the next day. Make sure you are finding time to take care of yourself. Stress related illnesses could crop up out of nowhere. I often see this card associated with new parents, Since so many pregnancy cards were pulled in this reading, it’s very likely this could be part of your year. Parenthood is hard and it’s likely you haven’t taken to it as well as you thought you would have. You may also be trying to get a business plan off the ground. It feels as though your pushing and pushing with no end in sight. There is hope to be found in whatever situation you find yourself in this year, you’re struggling now, so you will be cozy later. During the hard times, remind yourself what you're working towards. You may receive help from your mother or a friend. Friends and family may give you some hard truths about your love life and you may want to heed their advice. If you receive work advice from a co-worker in an area you're struggling in, take it to heart. Don’t be afraid to seek advice from multiple people you trust. Fortune is on your side, but you're going to have to work your tail off to get it!

[dynamicsgreys]

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Health: Is BA.5 the ‘Reinfection Wave’? The Latest Surge is a Test of Our Pandemic Priorities.

— By Ed Yong | The Atlantic | July 11, 2022

Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Well, here we go again. Once more, the ever-changing coronavirus behind COVID-19 is assaulting the United States in a new guise—BA.5, an offshoot of the Omicron variant that devastated the most recent winter. The new variant is spreading quickly, likely because it snakes past some of the immune defenses acquired by vaccinated people, or those infected by earlier variants. Those who have managed to avoid the virus for close to three years will find it a little harder to continue that streak, and some who recently caught COVID are getting it again. “People shouldn’t be surprised if they get infected, and they shouldn’t be surprised if it’s pretty unpleasant,” Stephen Goldstein, a virologist at the University of Utah, told me.

That doesn’t mean we’re about to have a surge on the scale of what we saw last winter, or that BA.5 (and its close cousin BA.4) will set us back to immunological square one. Goldstein told me that he takes “some level of comfort” in the knowledge that, based on how other countries have fared against BA.5, vaccines are still keeping a lot of people out of hospitals, intensive-care units, and morgues. The new variant is not an apocalyptic menace.

But it can’t be ignored, either. Infections (and reinfections) still matter, and by increasing both, BA.5 is extending and deepening the pandemic’s ongoing burden. “We will not prevent all transmission—that is not the goal—but we have to reduce the spread,” Maria Van Kerkhove, an infectious-disease epidemiologist at the World Health Organization, told me. “It’s not over, and we are playing with fire by letting this virus circulate at such intense levels.”

The age of Omicron began shortly after Thanksgiving, as the new variant swept through the U.S., ousting its predecessor, Delta. That initial version of Omicron, now known as BA.1, was just the first of a mini-dynasty of related variants that have since competed against one another in a grim game of succession. BA.2 took over from BA.1, and caused a surge in the spring. BA.4 and BA.5 are spreading even more quickly: First detected in South Africa in January and February, they have since displaced BA.2 all over the world, leading to surges in both cases and hospitalizations. In the U.S., BA.5 now accounts for about 54 percent of all COVID infections, and BA.4, about another 17 percent. (Most of this article will deal with BA.5 alone because it already seems to be outcompeting its cousin.) Hospitalizations have risen to their highest level since March.

You might assume that a new variant gains dominance by being inherently more transmissible than its forerunners. Using that logic, buttressed by some back-of-the-envelope calculations, some commentators have claimed that BA.5 is as transmissible as measles, making it among the most contagious viral diseases in history. But those calculations are “fully wrong,” Trevor Bedford, a virologist at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, told me. Variants can spread rapidly without being any better at finding new hosts, as long as they’re better at slipping past those hosts’ immune defenses. That property—immune evasion—likely enabled BA.1 to oust Delta last winter. It might also explain why BA.5 is rising now.

When people are vaccinated or infected, they develop antibodies that can neutralize the coronavirus by sticking to its spike proteins—the studs on its surface that the pathogen uses to recognize and infect our cells. But BA.4 and BA.5 have several mutations that change the shape of their spikes, which, like swords that no longer fit their sheaths, are now unrecognizable to many antibodies that would have disarmed older variants. That’s why, as many studies have now consistently shown, antibodies from triple-vaccinated people, or people who had breakthrough infections with earlier variants, are three to four times less potent at neutralizing BA.4 or BA.5 than BA.1 or BA.2. This means that most people are now less protected against infection than they were two months ago—and that some people who got COVID very recently are getting reinfected now. “I hear from a lot of people who just had COVID in February, March, or April and now have it again,” Anne Hahn, a virologist and immunologist at Yale, told me.

As my colleague Katherine J. Wu has reported, the consequences of reinfections are still unclear. It’s unlikely that each subsequent bout of COVID is worse for an individual than the previous one; this idea has proliferated because of a recent preprint, which really only showed that getting reinfected is worse than not being reinfected. Nor should people worry that, as one viral news article recently suggested, “it is now possible to be reinfected with one of Omicron’s variants every two to three weeks.” BA.5 is different from its forebears but not from itself; although someone could catch the new variant despite having recently had COVID, they’d be very unlikely to get infected again in the near future.

Though previous immunity has been dialed down a few notches, since BA.5 showed up, it hasn’t disappeared entirely. “We’re seeing that new infections are disproportionately people who haven’t been infected before,” Meaghan Kall, an epidemiologist at the U.K. Health Security Agency, told me. About half of those in England who have been infected in the current wave are first-timers, even though they account for just 15 percent of the country’s population. This clearly shows that although reinfections are a serious problem, the population still has some protection against catching even BA.5.

The degree to which the new variant escapes immunity is also a shadow of what we saw last winter, when Omicron first arrived. For comparison, antibodies in vaccinated people were 20 to 40 times worse at neutralizing BA.1 than the original coronavirus. BA.5 reduces their efficiency threefold again—a small gain of sneakiness on top of its predecessor’s dramatic flair for infiltration. “BA.5 is doing what Omicron does but with a marginally more effective immune evasion,” Kall told me. “I don’t believe that it represents a massive paradigm shift.”

Why, then, does it feel like we’re in a reinfection wave right now, with anecdotal reports being prominent in a way they weren’t seven months ago? It’s because Omicron completely changed our baseline. Before its arrival, only a third of Americans had ever experienced COVID. By the end of February, almost 60 percent had. We’re hearing more about reinfections now in part because the number of people who could possibly be reinfected has doubled.

BA.5’s impact on society will differ greatly around the world. Both South Africa and the U.K. have experienced only small rises in hospitalizations and deaths despite surging BA.5 cases, showing that “protection from vaccines against severe disease and death is still really strong,” Kall said. Portugal hasn’t been so lucky, with deaths climbing to levels that approach those of the first Omicron surge. These differences should be expected. On top of their demographic differences, countries are now complicated patchworks of immunity; citizens vary in how many times they’ve been infected or vaccinated, which vaccines they’ve gotten, and which variants they’ve encountered.

Still, it’s possible to predict what might happen as BA.5 ascends in the U.S. by looking at its effective reproduction number, or Rt—the average number of people whom each infected person then infects. The original version of Omicron, BA.1, “came in really hot,” Trevor Bedford told me. With an initial Rt of between 3 and 3.5, he estimates that it infected almost half the country in a few months, including 3 million to 4 million people a day at its peak. (These numbers are higher than the official counts, which have always been underestimates.) BA.2 was less ferocious: With an initial Rt of 1.6, it infected about one in 10 Americans in the spring, and peaked at roughly 500,000 daily infections. BA.4 and BA.5 have a slightly higher Rt but should “mostly mirror the BA.2 epidemic,” Bedford told me. It might not look that way on recent charts of new cases, where the close overlap between BA.4/BA.5’s rise and BA.2’s decline creates “the illusion of a plateau,” Bedford said, but the U.S. is nonetheless experiencing its third Omicron surge. He expects BA.5 to infect 10 to 15 percent of Americans over the next few months.

Of course, it doesn’t have to. The Biden administration, other political leaders, and many media figures have promoted laxer COVID policies, on the grounds that vaccines are still reducing the risk of death and hospitalization. But this stance is foolish for several reasons.

Even if the infection-fatality ratio for COVID—the risk that an infected person will die—falls to the level of seasonal flu, rare events stack up when the virus is allowed to spread unchecked. Bedford estimates that in such a scenario, COVID could still plausibly kill 100,000 Americans every year, “which is a lot!” he said. “It’s not like in the peak of the pandemic, but it’s a major health burden.” That burden is still mainly borne by the elderly; low-income workers; Black, Latino, and Indigenous Americans; and immunocompromised people. The entire Omicron dynasty may well have arisen from chronic infections in immunocompromised patients, in whose bodies the virus can evolve more rapidly, which suggests a self-interested case for preventing infections in this group, along with the more obvious moral rationale.

Death isn’t the only outcome that matters, either. Even without sending people to the hospital, infections can lead to the persistent and in many cases disabling symptoms of long COVID—a risk that vaccines seem to lower but not fully avert. “I’m not worried about dying from COVID, but I’m personally cautious because of worries about long COVID,” Bedford told me. “I’m not a hermit, but I’m taking mitigation measures to try not to get sick.” And even “mild” infections can still be awful. Dan Barouch, an infectious-disease specialist at Harvard Medical School, told me that friends and colleagues have “felt pretty terrible at home, sometimes for weeks, but weren’t sick enough to go to the ICU and get intubated. There’s a lot of time missed from school and work.” Waves of sick employees are still disrupting sectors that were already reeling from the Great Resignation—including the health-care system. An exodus of experienced colleagues and untenable levels of burnout have trapped health-care workers in a chronic state of crisis, which persists even when hospitalization numbers are low, and deepens whenever the numbers climb.

Preventing infections still matters, and vaccines are still a crucial means of doing so. After a frustrating delay, Omicron-specific boosters are on the way, and the FDA has recommended that these include components of BA.4 and BA.5. The updated shots won’t be ready until October at the earliest, by which time new variants could have arisen. But “even if we don’t nail the match exactly,” Goldstein said, these boosters should expand people’s antibody repertoire, leaving them better defended against not just the Omicron dynasty but also other variants that could follow. Still, “it’s important not to overpromise the efficacy of Omicron-specific boosters,” Barouch said. In terms of preventing infections, clinical data suggest that they’ll be modestly better than current vaccines, but not substantially so. And even if we get the long-desired shots that protect against all coronaviruses, it may be difficult to persuade Americans to get them.

Vaccines were never going to end the pandemic on their own. They needed to be complemented by other protective measures such as masks, better ventilation, rapid tests, and social support like paid sick leave, which were either insufficiently deployed or rolled back. And with stalled COVID funding jeopardizing supplies of tests, treatments, and vaccines, the U.S. will continue its long streak of being underprepared for new variants.

Consider BA.2.75, another member of the Omicron family, which has many spike mutations not seen in its cousins. In India, where that subvariant was first identified, it seems to be spreading at a rate double that of BA.5 and comparable to that of BA.1, Bedford told me. This worrying picture is based on a small number of samples, and BA.2.75’s actual pace may be slower. It may also struggle to spread in places like the U.S., where BA.5 already rules. But no matter what happens, this round of variants won’t be the last we contend with.

The belief that viruses inevitably evolve into milder versions is a myth: Such futures are possible but in no way guaranteed. The coronavirus could yet evolve into more severe variants, although vaccines would still be expected to blunt their sting. It could become even more contagious, although the traits that would give it a speed boost, such as higher viral loads or tighter attachments to human cells, can’t ratchet up forever. “It’s already super-transmissible, and there’s not much to gain there,” Anne Hahn told me.

Immune evasion is another matter. The virus is likely now locked with the human immune system in a perpetual evolutionary arms race. A variant emerges to circumvent our existing immunity, then vaccines and infections gradually rebuild our defenses … until another variant emerges. This is exactly what happens with flu, but the coronavirus seems to be changing even more quickly. The big uncertainty is whether the next variants will erode immunity to the small degrees that scientists expect (as BA.5 is doing) or whether they’ll do something dramatic and unexpected (as BA.1 did). This is what “living with COVID” means—a continual cat-and-mouse game that we can choose to play seriously or repeatedly forfeit.

The stakes of that game depend on a very simple question: Should we still care about preventing infections? If the answer is “not so much,” which is the implicit and sometimes explicit posture that America’s leaders have adopted, then BA.5 changes little. But if the answer is “yes,” as I and most of the experts I talk to still believe, then BA.5 is a problem. This article originally misstated the proportion of people with COVID in England who are first-timers.

— Ed Yong is a Staff Writer at The Atlantic. He won the Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting for his coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic.