Omicron: The Uninvited Holiday Guest 

As the song goes, there's no place like home for the holidays. But that Tennessee man heading to Pennsylvania for some homemade pumpkin pie might be carrying home more than just gifts. 

As Managing Editor Lori Robertson writes, omicron is now the dominant variant in the United States, and it is highly transmissible. Lori writes:

Hong Kong University researchers released information from an early lab study, not peer-reviewed, on Dec. 15 that found the omicron variant multiplies in respiratory-tract tissue 70 times faster than delta or the original SARS-CoV-2 over the first 24 hours, "which may explain why Omicron may transmit faster between humans than previous variant," a press release on the findings said.

In her article, "Early Data on Omicron," Lori reviews the available preliminary data on transmission, vaccine effectiveness and severity of disease. She also reports: 

• There is some evidence that omicron could have a shorter incubation period. 
• Lab and real-world studies, not yet peer-reviewed, indicate COVID-19 vaccines are less effective against omicron — but booster doses provide increased protection and the primary doses are likely to retain some protection against severe illness.
• Early anecdotal reports and a few preliminary studies have suggested omicron could cause less severe disease than other variants, but the virulence is still being studied.

Read her story for all the details. Please stay safe, so you can enjoy the holidays!

This is our last newsletter for this year. See you in 2022. 

Reader: Have stillbirths increased in women who have been vaccinated for Covid-19?  

FactCheck.org Director Eugene Kiely: No. I don't know the reason for your question, but there have been viral online articles making false claims about the rise of stillbirths in Canada -- which we wrote about last week. (See "Doctor Makes False Claim About Stillbirths in Canadian Hospitals.")

The viral articles were based on unsupported claims made by Dr. Daniel Nagase, a Canadian family physician, who said that COVID-19 vaccines are the cause of an “increase in stillbirths” in Canada, specifically in Vancouver and Ontario. Canadian health officials refute that claim. Celso Pereira, a spokesperson for the regional health authority Vancouver Coastal Health, told us in an email: "There has been no notable change to the incidence of stillbirths in the VCH region throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. This type of disinformation adds unnecessary stress to expecting parents who have received a COVID-19 vaccine, on health-care staff who must reassure their patients, and on the health-care system, as resources are stretched further during the ongoing pandemic response." Pereira added, "COVID-19 vaccines are recommended for pregnant women and safe for both mother and fetus." 

Dr. Peter Potts, joint chief of staff at Grand River Hospital in the Waterloo region of Ontario, told the Canadian news site CityNews that its stillbirth rate this year is "0.41%, which is our average." Potts also said, “we feel COVID vaccinations during pregnancy are a normal part to prenatal care and the obstetricians and midwives in the community strongly support the vaccination during pregnancy. There is a growing body of evidence that the vaccination is safe.”

In our article, we wrote this about the U.S.:

On its website, the CDC says “the benefits of receiving a COVID-19 vaccine outweigh any known or potential risks of vaccination during pregnancy.” In fact, the CDC says, “people who have COVID-19 during pregnancy are at increased risk of preterm birth and stillbirth.” 

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists also recommends that pregnant and lactating individuals get vaccinated.  

Wrapping Up

Here's what else we've got for you this week:

• "Increase in COVID-19 VAERS Reports Due To Reporting Requirements, Intense Scrutiny of Widely Given Vaccines": Expanded reporting requirements and intense scrutiny of the hundreds of millions administered COVID-19 vaccine doses have driven record reporting of potential side effects to one of the government’s vaccine safety monitoring systems. Social media posts, however, have misleadingly insinuated that the increase in reports means the vaccines are unsafe.
• "Article Makes Unfounded Claims Linking Athletes’ Injuries, Deaths to Vaccines": Many U.S. athletes have been vaccinated against COVID-19 without any adverse effects. But a conservative outlet has cited a list of supposedly vaccine-injured athletes to claim “there may be something wrong with the vaccine.” There’s no proof that the listed athletes — most of them are actually retired — were harmed by the vaccines. 
• "COVID-19 Far More Lethal Than a Cold, Contrary to Suggestion in Viral Video": COVID-19 has killed more than 805,000 people in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Yet a viral video on social media suggests the disease is the same as a “common cold.” COVID-19 is in the same family of some cold viruses, but its potential for a severe outcome — including death — is much higher than for the common cold.
• "Viral Story Takes Fauci COVID-19 Vaccine Safety Comments Out of Context": The COVID-19 vaccines available in the U.S. were found to be safe and effective in clinical trials and real-world conditions. Dr. Anthony Fauci did not admit that "Covid Vaccines May Actually Make People 'Worse,'" as a viral headline misleadingly claims. Fauci's March 2020 remarks about testing future vaccines for potential safety issues were taken out of context.
• "‘Santa’ Detained at Unregistered Protest, Not ‘Arrested’ for Mask Violation": An increase in pandemic restrictions in Germany sparked a protest at a market, where a man dressed as Santa Claus was briefly detained. Online posts falsely claimed he was arrested for not wearing a mask. But police said he was detained for participating in an unregistered protest. 
• "Facebook Post Recycles Misleading Assessment of Vulnerable and Endangered Species": Climate change and other human-caused factors continue to put many species at risk, according to conservation groups. But a social media post misleadingly claims polar bears, whales and koala populations are “recovered” or increasing. All three species remain critically endangered or vulnerable, the International Union for Conservation of Nature says.

• "Preguntas y respuestas sobre la variante ómicron": El 24 de noviembre, Sudáfrica notificó a la Organización Mundial de la Salud que en medio de un reciente aumento en los casos de COVID-19 había identificado una nueva variante. La posteriormente llamada variante ómicron, tenía un alto número de mutaciones, lo que generó la preocupación de que podría propagarse más fácilmente que otras variantes del coronavirus. Repasaremos lo que sabemos hasta ahora sobre la variante ómicron.
• "Publicación saca conclusiones prematuras sobre la gravedad de la variante ómicron del COVID-19": Aún no se sabe si la variante ómicron produce casos de COVID-19 más o menos graves que la variante delta, aunque algunos indicios preliminares sugieren que las infecciones por ómicron podrían ser más leves. Sin embargo, una publicación en Facebook afirma infundadamente que la “toxicidad” de ómicron es cinco veces mayor que la de delta y que su tasa de mortalidad es más alta. 
• "Investigadores estudian si los enjuagues bucales pueden reducir la carga viral y la transmisión del COVID-19": Durante una reunión municipal celebrada el 8 de diciembre, el senador Ron Johnson pudo haber creado un malentendido al decir que “está demostrado que hacer gárgaras, el enjuague bucal, mata al coronavirus”. Si bien en estudios de laboratorio se ha visto que algunos enjuagues bucales bloquean la infectividad o suprimen el SARS-CoV-2, los estudios en personas que usan enjuagues bucales no son concluyentes. Los investigadores continúan estudiando el asunto. 
• "No hay evidencia confiable de que las vacunas de ARNm contra el COVID-19 ‘aumenten dramáticamente’ el riesgo de ataque cardíaco, contrariamente a lo que dice un resumen defectuoso": No hay conocimiento de que las vacunas contra el COVID-19 administradas en Estados Unidos aumenten el riesgo de ataque cardíaco. Pero publicaciones en las redes sociales han malinterpretado un resumen en una revista de la Asociación Estadounidense del Corazón como prueba de que la vacuna mata. La publicación emitió una “expresión de preocupación” sobre el resumen “hasta que se pueda publicar una corrección adecuada”.