delta became the dominant strain because it was more transmissible and more successful at reproducing, an order of magnitude, in fact, meaning the viral load from delta is literally thousands of times heavier than the original wuhan strain, and even the early alpha strain.
it is not significantly more lethal than the UK/south africa/brazil variants, certainly not an order of magnitude so; nor does it evade vaccine tech, similar to the other major strains. it's just very, very good at spreading and dumps a vast amount of covid in your system. against other strains, it's a no brainer that delta became the dominant strain. it's survival-of-the-fittest in comparison to other covid strains, not a competition at killing humans.
a mutative virus like covid will settle into a groove of several major strains which have optimized a few different variations of transmissibility/load/lethality. any highly lethal strains would probably burn themselves out, or lack the longevity of competing strains.
any new variant isn't emerging into a terra nova open killing-field anymore, and must 'adapt' to an environment in which most people have antibodies or immunity. the chances of a sudden terrific killer emerging from the void are very, very unlikely. could the pandemic get worse? during winter, certainly. but it really does look like the long-term future will be tweaked vaccines to keep pace with mutant variations.
again, a highly contagious variant could gain the ascendancy and enable widespread herd immunity to the more serious strains. it's a possibility. we simply don't know how the dynamics of the pandemic will unfold. but your understanding, of the pandemic sharpening its dinner knives and gradually getting better and better at ruining humans, just isn't the picture at all. you are literally viewing natural selection with a religious mindset. you'll be talking about Evil next – another pet hobby of yours. not very rational, chap.
it is not significantly more lethal than the UK/south africa/brazil variants, certainly not an order of magnitude so; nor does it evade vaccine tech, similar to the other major strains. it's just very, very good at spreading and dumps a vast amount of covid in your system. against other strains, it's a no brainer that delta became the dominant strain. it's survival-of-the-fittest in comparison to other covid strains, not a competition at killing humans.
a mutative virus like covid will settle into a groove of several major strains which have optimized a few different variations of transmissibility/load/lethality. any highly lethal strains would probably burn themselves out, or lack the longevity of competing strains.
any new variant isn't emerging into a terra nova open killing-field anymore, and must 'adapt' to an environment in which most people have antibodies or immunity. the chances of a sudden terrific killer emerging from the void are very, very unlikely. could the pandemic get worse? during winter, certainly. but it really does look like the long-term future will be tweaked vaccines to keep pace with mutant variations.
again, a highly contagious variant could gain the ascendancy and enable widespread herd immunity to the more serious strains. it's a possibility. we simply don't know how the dynamics of the pandemic will unfold. but your understanding, of the pandemic sharpening its dinner knives and gradually getting better and better at ruining humans, just isn't the picture at all. you are literally viewing natural selection with a religious mindset. you'll be talking about Evil next – another pet hobby of yours. not very rational, chap.
Last edited by uziq (2021-11-29 21:40:57)