Christopher SchmidtJan 3, 2023

I have grown past being concerned about minor fluctuations in MA's wastewater COVID tracking, but the current average between the north and south systems is at a level only previously seen between 2021-12-20 and 2022-01-17. In hindsight, I didn't go into the office at all during that time period.

I don't like it, but I guess that means I need to set myself up to work from home for at least a little while.

Show threadChristopher Schmidt
Given the growth in XBB1.5--from 9% to 20% to 40% over the past 3 weeks of CDC Nowcast estimates--this seems likely to be heavily driven by this new variant, which is a similar scenario to what we saw in Omicron in late 2022/2023. My younger kid, who has received the bivalent vaccine, recently caught COVID again (for the third time) just as this variant started spreading widely, so I think even bivalent vaccine efficacy is likely at risk.
Jan 3, 2023 at 2:33pmWeb
Show threadChristopher SchmidtJan 3, 2023
While everyone has to take their own approach, since I caught COVID in July, my approach to COVID has largely been a "watch for new variants that seem substantially more immune evasive". XBB's wild spread, combined with drastic growth in wastewater numbers, is exactly the kind of signal that I have been keeping an eye out for, and it would be irresponsible of me to ignore it.
Show threadChristopher SchmidtJan 3, 2023

Also, I guess I need to cancel my trip to Vegas I had planned for a couple weeks from now.

Oh well. Maybe I'll be able to take a vacation next year.