NPR

JM2K6 wrote: ↑Mon Apr 11, 2022 12:06 pm

It's not a binary thing, though. We could have a covid variant that doesn't put anyone in ventilation beds and it'd still be a serious public health issue. It's great that vaccines+boosters are having a big effect, and that Omicron is less deadly on top of that, but the NHS is still struggling to cope, lots of people are getting very sick, and there's a huge amount of concern over the long term effects of catching Covid.

"Learning to live with Covid" is not the same thing as pretending it doesn't exist. But it seems we're stuck between people trying to persuade others that the pandemic is still a thing and is still a real danger to our society, and those who believe that because the mortality rate has dropped with this set of vaccines + this variant that Covid is "over". What's frustrating to me about the latter group is the utter unwillingness to acknowledge that learning to live with Covid involves some efforts being made to reduce the risk of catching Covid in the first place, including mandating better ventilation, a change in how we behave as a society when we're symptomatic, vaccine boosters, etc.

mat the expat wrote: ↑Mon Apr 11, 2022 12:10 pm

JM2K6 wrote: ↑Mon Apr 11, 2022 12:06 pm

It's not a binary thing, though. We could have a covid variant that doesn't put anyone in ventilation beds and it'd still be a serious public health issue. It's great that vaccines+boosters are having a big effect, and that Omicron is less deadly on top of that, but the NHS is still struggling to cope, lots of people are getting very sick, and there's a huge amount of concern over the long term effects of catching Covid.

"Learning to live with Covid" is not the same thing as pretending it doesn't exist. But it seems we're stuck between people trying to persuade others that the pandemic is still a thing and is still a real danger to our society, and those who believe that because the mortality rate has dropped with this set of vaccines + this variant that Covid is "over". What's frustrating to me about the latter group is the utter unwillingness to acknowledge that learning to live with Covid involves some efforts being made to reduce the risk of catching Covid in the first place, including mandating better ventilation, a change in how we behave as a society when we're symptomatic, vaccine boosters, etc.

There is too much "It wasn't that bad really, we didn't need to lockdown back then" Bullshit

Ymx wrote: ↑Mon Apr 11, 2022 12:18 pm

mat the expat wrote: ↑Mon Apr 11, 2022 12:10 pm

JM2K6 wrote: ↑Mon Apr 11, 2022 12:06 pm

It's not a binary thing, though. We could have a covid variant that doesn't put anyone in ventilation beds and it'd still be a serious public health issue. It's great that vaccines+boosters are having a big effect, and that Omicron is less deadly on top of that, but the NHS is still struggling to cope, lots of people are getting very sick, and there's a huge amount of concern over the long term effects of catching Covid.

"Learning to live with Covid" is not the same thing as pretending it doesn't exist. But it seems we're stuck between people trying to persuade others that the pandemic is still a thing and is still a real danger to our society, and those who believe that because the mortality rate has dropped with this set of vaccines + this variant that Covid is "over". What's frustrating to me about the latter group is the utter unwillingness to acknowledge that learning to live with Covid involves some efforts being made to reduce the risk of catching Covid in the first place, including mandating better ventilation, a change in how we behave as a society when we're symptomatic, vaccine boosters, etc.

There is too much "It wasn't that bad really, we didn't need to lockdown back then" Bullshit

Except, no one has said remotely that nonsense on this thread, let alone portraying it as being said too much.

JM2K6 wrote: ↑Mon Apr 11, 2022 12:06 pm

Margin__Walker wrote: ↑Mon Apr 11, 2022 11:58 am

Rinkals wrote: ↑Mon Apr 11, 2022 11:42 am

I am, for one.

I find the piss taking inappropriate for this thread.

I appreciate that others enjoy his banter, but the promotion of doubt about dangers of covid and the ability of measures to combat it risks encouraging a resistance to these measures.

For the time being, I am quite prepared to listen to what scientists tell us about the virus, and I accept that we are still learning about it, so things may change.

It works both ways though. It's like there's a dogma in place now where people pretend it's still 2020/2021 when the threat level was fundamentally different.

Yes it's still a significant public health challenge and there needs to be continuous vigilance for more threatening variants. But there are continued panicked posts on threads like this where the huge reduction of risk just doesn't seem to be acknowledged. We've had sky high infection in the UK in the last month and in Jan and barely any impact at all on the number of patients in mechanical ventilation beds.

It's not a binary thing, though. We could have a covid variant that doesn't put anyone in ventilation beds and it'd still be a serious public health issue. It's great that vaccines+boosters are having a big effect, and that Omicron is less deadly on top of that, but the NHS is still struggling to cope, lots of people are getting very sick, and there's a huge amount of concern over the long term effects of catching Covid.

"Learning to live with Covid" is not the same thing as pretending it doesn't exist. But it seems we're stuck between people trying to persuade others that the pandemic is still a thing and is still a real danger to our society, and those who believe that because the mortality rate has dropped with this set of vaccines + this variant that Covid is "over".

EnergiseR2 wrote: ↑Mon Apr 11, 2022 12:08 pm "I appreciate that others enjoy his banter, but the promotion of doubt about dangers of covid and the ability of measures to combat it risks encouraging a resistance to these measures."

I didn't do that. You made that up completely Rinkals. The amount of binary nonsense the Internet throws up and people like you are at the forefront. I couldn't be less like what you are positing I am but sure its nice a neat pretending I am isn't it. This is why I went offline.

Rinkals wrote: ↑Mon Apr 11, 2022 11:42 am

Calculon wrote: ↑Mon Apr 11, 2022 11:26 am Who's irritated with everready?

I am, for one.

I find the piss taking inappropriate for this thread.

I appreciate that others enjoy his banter, but the promotion of doubt about dangers of covid and the ability of measures to combat it risks encouraging a resistance to these measures.

For the time being, I am quite prepared to listen to what scientists tell us about the virus, and I accept that we are still learning about it, so things may change.

EnergiseR2 wrote: ↑Mon Apr 11, 2022 3:01 pm

normilet wrote: ↑Mon Apr 11, 2022 1:52 pm

EnergiseR2 wrote: ↑Mon Apr 11, 2022 12:08 pm "I appreciate that others enjoy his banter, but the promotion of doubt about dangers of covid and the ability of measures to combat it risks encouraging a resistance to these measures."

I didn't do that. You made that up completely Rinkals. The amount of binary nonsense the Internet throws up and people like you are at the forefront. I couldn't be less like what you are positing I am but sure its nice a neat pretending I am isn't it. This is why I went offline.

Come back to PR ER. It's become a beacon of lively discourse and healthy debate, with an underlying current of respect for each and every member.

Marylandolorian wrote: ↑Mon Apr 11, 2022 5:18 pm Few weeks ago I asked if any of you were planing to get a second booster, I just read this article published last week.
It looks like if you are under 50 it isn’t really necessary, 50 to 65 mainly if you have some health issues , 65+ should

https://www.factcheck.org/2022/04/scich ... er-people/

Ymx wrote: ↑Mon Apr 11, 2022 6:59 pm

EnergiseR2 wrote: ↑Mon Apr 11, 2022 3:01 pm

normilet wrote: ↑Mon Apr 11, 2022 1:52 pm

Come back to PR ER. It's become a beacon of lively discourse and healthy debate, with an underlying current of respect for each and every member.

Who here still posts on PR?

Rinkals ? Grandpa ?

Grandpa wrote: ↑Mon Apr 11, 2022 4:14 pm Bimbo's humour is obviously unappreciated...

Grandpa wrote: ↑Mon Apr 11, 2022 7:16 pm

Ymx wrote: ↑Mon Apr 11, 2022 6:59 pm

EnergiseR2 wrote: ↑Mon Apr 11, 2022 3:01 pm

Who here still posts on PR?

Rinkals ? Grandpa ?

Quite a few do I think?
Dan54, Hellraiser, Flockwitt, Enzedder, PornDog, just off the top of my head... a few others I am sure.

Marylandolorian wrote: ↑Mon Apr 11, 2022 5:18 pm Few weeks ago I asked if any of you were planing to get a second booster, I just read this article published last week.
It looks like if you are under 50 it isn’t really necessary, 50 to 65 mainly if you have some health issues , 65+ should

https://www.factcheck.org/2022/04/scich ... er-people/

Marylandolorian wrote: ↑Mon Apr 11, 2022 5:18 pm Few weeks ago I asked if any of you were planing to get a second booster, I just read this article published last week.
It looks like if you are under 50 it isn’t really necessary, 50 to 65 mainly if you have some health issues , 65+ should

https://www.factcheck.org/2022/04/scich ... er-people/

Ymx wrote: ↑Mon Apr 11, 2022 6:59 pm

Who here still posts on PR?

Rinkals ? Grandpa ?

Kiwias wrote: ↑Tue Apr 12, 2022 3:17 am

Marylandolorian wrote: ↑Mon Apr 11, 2022 5:18 pm Few weeks ago I asked if any of you were planing to get a second booster, I just read this article published last week.
It looks like if you are under 50 it isn’t really necessary, 50 to 65 mainly if you have some health issues , 65+ should

https://www.factcheck.org/2022/04/scich ... er-people/

68 and definitely planning on getting the second booster when my gp recommends it.

Tichtheid wrote: ↑Tue Apr 12, 2022 10:54 am "Herd immunity now seems impossible. Welcome to the age of Covid reinfection
Devi Sridhar"

She says, keep testing, isolate one person who is positive - it's better than everyone at work getting ill, roll out anti viral pills, push on with vaccines, continue with masks


https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfr ... irus-world


My wife is fully vaxxed, two jabs and a booster, and she is currently ill after a positive test a few days ago.

EnergiseR2 wrote: ↑Tue Apr 12, 2022 9:59 am One of the matters that drove my disquiet was the supression of all matters of healthcare at the altar of covid and it still goes on. I bored people with my scan and scope travails but in short I have now had two scopes in a period I should have had 8. I am due another but because I am going to the US my next one is cancelled. Have to not have been abroad for the previous 14 days. Next appointment available is June. They know the 14 day thing is bullshit but they are in it to win it at this stage. And it just rolls on

petej wrote: ↑Sat Apr 16, 2022 2:19 pm https://www.economist.com/britain/2022/ ... o-catch-up
Not surprising. I can remember my son being absolutely freaked out a year a go having had very few people come into our house for ages when my brother's family visited

Covid vaccine technology could create first cure for heart attacks

Professor Mauro Giacca, in white, and his team at King’s College London are leading research into the RNA treatment, funded by the British Heart Foundation
Professor Mauro Giacca, in white, and his team at King’s College London are leading research into the RNA treatment, funded by the British Heart Foundation

BRITISH HEART FOUNDATION

Eleanor Hayward, Health Correspondent
Friday April 15 2022, 3.00pm, The Times

Damaged hearts are being regenerated using the same technology as Covid vaccines in an effort to develop the world’s first cure for heart attack victims.

Scientists at King’s College London have identified key genetic codes — called mRNAs — which produce proteins that stimulate the creation of healthy new heart cells.

The ground-breaking research has also identified proteins that could be injected into heart attack patients in the back of an ambulance to prevent heart cells dying.

About 100,000 people are admitted to UK hospitals each year after a heart attack, which occurs when blood supply to the heart is blocked, causing up to one billion heart cells to die.

Because the human heart has no ability to repair itself, victims are left with a permanent scar that often leads to debilitating and potentially deadly heart failure.

The new RNA (ribonucleic acid) therapy has the potential to transform cardiovascular medicine and prevent millions of heart attack victims developing heart failure.

So far the revolutionary approach has been successfully used to regenerate damaged pig hearts and is due to start human trials within two years.

Professor Mauro Giacca, who is leading the research, said: “We are all born with a set number of muscle cells in our heart and they are exactly the same ones we will die with. The heart has no capacity to repair itself after a heart attack. Our goal has been to find a treatment that can convince surviving cells to proliferate.

“Regenerating a damaged human heart has been a dream until a few years ago, but can now become a reality.
“We are using exactly the same technology as the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines to inject micro RNAs to the heart, reaching surviving heart cells and pushing their proliferation. The new cells would replace the dead ones and instead of forming a scar, the patient has new muscle tissue.”

Giacca’s team, based at the British Heart Foundation Centre for Research Excellence at King’s, is also developing a treatment to prevent cells from dying during a heart attack

Giacca said: “We have identified three proteins which stop heart cells from dying by encouraging them to repair themselves. The idea is to now produce these proteins so they can be injected immediately after a heart attack — in the back of an ambulance or when the patient reaches the hospital.”

After a patient’s condition has stabilised, the other therapy — encouraging the growth of healthy heart tissue — could then be delivered directly to the coronary artery via a catheter.

Giacca said: “If clinical trials go well it would be blockbuster medicine in the history of cardiology. Both approaches are super-exciting. It would be really transformative. It is a completely new territory.

“The treatment revolution that has occurred in cancer in recent years, where there is immunotherapy and targeted biological therapies, has not occurred for the heart. Treatment for heart attacks and heart failure remains very similar to 50 years ago and the main pillars of therapy are drugs that were developed in the 1970s such as beta-blockers and ACE inhibitors.”

Giacca, who moved to London from the University of Trieste in 2019, acknowledged there were challenges ahead but was optimistic human trials would be completed within three years.

He said: “Testing has so far been on mice and pigs that are young and healthy, not an elderly human. But there is no way of solving that except during the trial.”

His research is funded by the British Heart Foundation (BHF), which is aiming to raise £3 million for studies into regenerative medicine as Charity of the Year for the 2022 TCS London Marathon.

Professor Sir Nilesh Samani, medical director of the BHF, said: “Heart failure is a debilitating condition that dramatically affects the lives of almost one million people in the UK. BHF-funded research has spearheaded treatments to give people with heart failure longer, healthier lives, but there is no cure. Regenerative medicine offers that hope.

“The money raised by the 2022 TCS London Marathon will enable Professor Giacca and his team to push the boundaries of science by finding ways to teach the heart to repair itself. Unlocking these secrets could help heal hearts and transform the outcomes for people living with heart failure.”

Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine led the way for RNA treatment
Before the pandemic, medical research into a type of genetic code called RNA was considered an obscure and experimental field (Eleanor Hayward writes).

Then, in December 2020, the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was approved by medical regulators, becoming not only the world’s first Covid-19 jab but also the first ever RNA treatment.

RNA molecules are the messengers which translate DNA, your genetic code, into instructions for cells to make the millions of different proteins vital for our bodies to function.

Scientists have now figured out a way of hijacking this process, inserting synthetic RNA into human cells so they produce whatever specific type of protein they desire.

The Pfizer and Moderna messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines, for example, contain a genetic instruction for cells to produce the spike protein of the Covid-19 virus.
This then causes the body to produce antibodies against the spike protein, training the immune system to act quickly when infected with the real thing.

The RNA in the vaccine solution is “hidden” inside lipid nanoparticles — harmless fatty molecules — so it can get inside human cells without being destroyed by the immune system after being injected.

The rapid development and success of these Covid mRNA vaccines has opened the floodgates for similar treatments, leading to billions of dollars in investment in RNA technology.

Trials of an mRNA HIV vaccine got under way earlier this year and scientists believe the technology could also be used to treat cancer, rabies and malaria.

If the research by the team at King’s College London into mRNA heart attack treatments comes off, it would represent the biggest breakthrough in cardiovascular medicine for decades, with the potential to benefit millions each year.

Ymx wrote: ↑Sun Apr 17, 2022 9:48 am A slight tangent but interesting

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/covi ... -5h20jkzkt

Covid vaccine technology could create first cure for heart attacks

Professor Mauro Giacca, in white, and his team at King’s College London are leading research into the RNA treatment, funded by the British Heart Foundation
Professor Mauro Giacca, in white, and his team at King’s College London are leading research into the RNA treatment, funded by the British Heart Foundation

BRITISH HEART FOUNDATION

Eleanor Hayward, Health Correspondent
Friday April 15 2022, 3.00pm, The Times

Damaged hearts are being regenerated using the same technology as Covid vaccines in an effort to develop the world’s first cure for heart attack victims.

Scientists at King’s College London have identified key genetic codes — called mRNAs — which produce proteins that stimulate the creation of healthy new heart cells.

Ymx wrote: ↑Mon Apr 18, 2022 8:59 am

98.8% with antibodies.

Job done

dpedin wrote: ↑Mon Apr 18, 2022 9:42 am

Ymx wrote: ↑Mon Apr 18, 2022 8:59 am

98.8% with antibodies.

Job done

This is good news and does offer good protection but it is not the whole story I am afraid and it doesn't quite explain why we have huge numbers of folk, current ONS estimate is that 1 in 14 are infected with omicron variant.

Past infection only, no vaccination, from covid doesn't provide great or long lasting protection from omicron - some research suggests it could be as low as 20%. Remember omicron is not any 'milder' than the original virus, vaccines have provided great protection. We still have 14m in UK not vaccinated either by choice or by being ineligible. This is still a huge body of the population that are at risk. Reinfection rates from omicron are currently estimates at somewhere between 10% and 20% and rising.

Also studies suggest that omicron can evade the current vaccines more effectively than previous variants - even if vaccines achieve the top end of the protection estimates of 80% that still means 20% of those vaccinated are still at risk, this is 20% of c50m or 10m potentially still at risk, probably the elderly and the more vulnerable.

I haven't seen any research yet about whether being fully vaccinated (3 or 4 jabs) provides full protection against long covid although the suggestion is that it does reduce the chance of an infection leading to long covid. REACT study suggests up to 2m folk could have long covid.

Don't get me wrong, the level of antibodies in the community is excellent and will provide some defence. However to suggest it is 'job done' isn't the full story and is contradicted by much of the science that is out there. The longer covid is circulating then the greater the chance of further variants emerging and the greater the chance of vaccine escape. Like it or not we are in this for the long term and need to get used to behaving differently, otherwise we will end up with ongoing/periodic disruption to travel, schooling, NHS, business, etc as more waves hit us. There is no scientific evidence that covid will get milder, the next variant could be more severe.

So good news but we desperately need the scientists to come up with more effective and longer against vaccines for covid, this might not be that far off from what I hear.

dpedin wrote: ↑Mon Apr 18, 2022 9:42 am

Ymx wrote: ↑Mon Apr 18, 2022 8:59 am

98.8% with antibodies.

Job done

This is good news and does offer good protection but it is not the whole story I am afraid and it doesn't quite explain why we have huge numbers of folk, current ONS estimate is that 1 in 14 are infected with omicron variant.

Past infection only, no vaccination, from covid doesn't provide great or long lasting protection from omicron - some research suggests it could be as low as 20%. Remember omicron is not any 'milder' than the original virus, vaccines have provided great protection. We still have 14m in UK not vaccinated either by choice or by being ineligible. This is still a huge body of the population that are at risk. Reinfection rates from omicron are currently estimates at somewhere between 10% and 20% and rising.

Also studies suggest that omicron can evade the current vaccines more effectively than previous variants - even if vaccines achieve the top end of the protection estimates of 80% that still means 20% of those vaccinated are still at risk, this is 20% of c50m or 10m potentially still at risk, probably the elderly and the more vulnerable.

I haven't seen any research yet about whether being fully vaccinated (3 or 4 jabs) provides full protection against long covid although the suggestion is that it does reduce the chance of an infection leading to long covid. REACT study suggests up to 2m folk could have long covid.

Don't get me wrong, the level of antibodies in the community is excellent and will provide some defence. However to suggest it is 'job done' isn't the full story and is contradicted by much of the science that is out there. The longer covid is circulating then the greater the chance of further variants emerging and the greater the chance of vaccine escape. Like it or not we are in this for the long term and need to get used to behaving differently, otherwise we will end up with ongoing/periodic disruption to travel, schooling, NHS, business, etc as more waves hit us. There is no scientific evidence that covid will get milder, the next variant could be more severe.

So good news but we desperately need the scientists to come up with more effective and longer against vaccines for covid, this might not be that far off from what I hear.

Wrinkles wrote: ↑Mon Apr 18, 2022 9:59 am

dpedin wrote: ↑Mon Apr 18, 2022 9:42 am

Ymx wrote: ↑Mon Apr 18, 2022 8:59 am

98.8% with antibodies.

Job done

This is good news and does offer good protection but it is not the whole story I am afraid and it doesn't quite explain why we have huge numbers of folk, current ONS estimate is that 1 in 14 are infected with omicron variant.

Past infection only, no vaccination, from covid doesn't provide great or long lasting protection from omicron - some research suggests it could be as low as 20%. Remember omicron is not any 'milder' than the original virus, vaccines have provided great protection. We still have 14m in UK not vaccinated either by choice or by being ineligible. This is still a huge body of the population that are at risk. Reinfection rates from omicron are currently estimates at somewhere between 10% and 20% and rising.

Also studies suggest that omicron can evade the current vaccines more effectively than previous variants - even if vaccines achieve the top end of the protection estimates of 80% that still means 20% of those vaccinated are still at risk, this is 20% of c50m or 10m potentially still at risk, probably the elderly and the more vulnerable.

I haven't seen any research yet about whether being fully vaccinated (3 or 4 jabs) provides full protection against long covid although the suggestion is that it does reduce the chance of an infection leading to long covid. REACT study suggests up to 2m folk could have long covid.

Don't get me wrong, the level of antibodies in the community is excellent and will provide some defence. However to suggest it is 'job done' isn't the full story and is contradicted by much of the science that is out there. The longer covid is circulating then the greater the chance of further variants emerging and the greater the chance of vaccine escape. Like it or not we are in this for the long term and need to get used to behaving differently, otherwise we will end up with ongoing/periodic disruption to travel, schooling, NHS, business, etc as more waves hit us. There is no scientific evidence that covid will get milder, the next variant could be more severe.

So good news but we desperately need the scientists to come up with more effective and longer against vaccines for covid, this might not be that far off from what I hear.

So, almost 5 million people with Covid, around a million of whom will be unvaccinated, yet only 355 in hospital on ventilation. And you say there’s no evidence it’s milder? Really? If you think we should still be panicking over a disease that currently results in 1:14,000 who catch it requiring ventilation, then I think you need to recalibrate your perception of risk.

Ymx wrote: ↑Mon Apr 18, 2022 10:18 am Indeed DP. As our 98.8% antibodies wane we really need to ensure our immune systems keep up. Covid remaining in circulation should help with that. Although I’m fairly sure that will happen as it has in the past, irrespective of ph.

The 98.8% also shows why the long covid boat has sailed long ago. I could be wrong, but I assume long covid if it happens, arises most significantly from first and most severe infection. But have failed to find studies to show this. A tiny percent get long covid, and I expect a tiny percent of those who have long covid get long covid from a secondary infection when they haven’t had it from the first infection. This is speculation on my part I admit.

Also, I might have been baiting you a tiny with the “job done” quote. Some days you get the bait just right.

Margin__Walker wrote: ↑Thu Apr 07, 2022 11:30 am

dpedin wrote: ↑Thu Apr 07, 2022 11:23 am

Margin__Walker wrote: ↑Thu Apr 07, 2022 11:19 am Because the daily case numbers were falling (prior to 1st April). But let's not go around that loop again.

No - I think others have suggested why case numbers are not a reliable measure to use.

Sure. Back to the original point. Let's wait for the ONS numbers for this week. This is going nowhere

dpedin wrote: ↑Mon Apr 18, 2022 11:23 am

Ymx wrote: ↑Mon Apr 18, 2022 10:18 am Indeed DP. As our 98.8% antibodies wane we really need to ensure our immune systems keep up. Covid remaining in circulation should help with that. Although I’m fairly sure that will happen as it has in the past, irrespective of ph.

The 98.8% also shows why the long covid boat has sailed long ago. I could be wrong, but I assume long covid if it happens, arises most significantly from first and most severe infection. But have failed to find studies to show this. A tiny percent get long covid, and I expect a tiny percent of those who have long covid get long covid from a secondary infection when they haven’t had it from the first infection. This is speculation on my part I admit.

Also, I might have been baiting you a tiny with the “job done” quote. Some days you get the bait just right.

Natural infection from covid provides a weaker protection than vaccination so annual vaccinations are probably best option. Allowing covid to freely circulate to keep immune system up will lead to continuous disruption as there will always be a percentage off ill with covid symptoms plus there remains a risk of new variants causing greater illness in some people/groups. The omicron variant has led to a significant increase in hospitalisation of young children for example. Best option to minimise risk is to maintain vaccinations with regular boosters including children.

I am not sure what highly infectious diseases that we have allowed to run wild without using PH measures to try and control community transmission? Is this not why we vaccinate kids against measles, mumps, rubella, whooping cough, flu, tetanus,diptheria, polio, meningitis, HPV, etc and adults against shingles, meningitis, etc. It's why we get vaccinated against a range of transmissible diseases such as hepatitis, cholera, rabies, yellow fever, etc when going abroad to certain countries.

ONS suggest between 3% and 12% have long covid 12 weeks post initial infection, 7% to 18% who were symptomatic. So not a tiny percentage.

I'm not sure your assumptions are correct? See https://www.bmj.com/content/376/bmj.o378 for risk of cardiac issues even after mild case of covid although there is a relationship between more severe cases and cardiac issues. However even mild cases of covid present a risk. I think the jury is still out about the risk of long covid from reinfections, I think it reduces it but not sufficiently given the large numbers of people being infected with Omicron. A small % of a very large number is still a very large number!

I'm just at a loose end waiting to go out and play golf so it kept me occupied for a wee while over a coffee. Tee time at 2pm.