There will be another opportunity to receive the COVID vaccination at the San Saba Civic Center on Tuesday, February 8th from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Anyone ages 5 years and older is eligible for the free vaccine. Both Pfizer and Moderna vaccines will be available. Booster and primary doses can be given. No appointment needed; it is a drive-through clinic.
There is a new “sub lineage” of the omicron COVID virus in the U.S. known as omicron BA.2, sometimes referred to as “stealth omicron.” Omicron has many sub-variants; the predominant in our country is omicron BA.1 accounting for essentially all COVID infections right now.
The newer BA.2 variant was first identified in Europe last fall and it spreads even more rapidly than the original omicron. Fortunately, it seems to cause a milder infection, like its progenitor omicron variants. It also appears that our existing vaccines do provide some protection from this virus. And, if you had an infection with the current omicron that seems to provide protection as well.
As has been obvious from the earliest availability of the COVID vaccines, they, like all vaccines, do not confer 100% immunity from catching COVID. Nonetheless they do significantly reduce the chance of getting infected and, even more importantly, they dramatically reduce the risk of a severe, life-threatening infection with COVID. Those who have received a full vaccination and then developed a COVID infection are said to have “super-immunity” and are very well protected. Hopefully, the wide availability of the COVID vaccines and the rapid spread of the milder omicron variant will help bring this pandemic under control.