New COVID-19 Hybrid Variant Discovered: Deltacron

We are NOT prepared for the new COVID-19 variant, and it’s already here! In fact, it’s a hybrid of the two worst variants we’ve seen so far: delta and omicron, and it’s unofficially being called “Deltacron”. here’s everything we know about it so far: 

Most of the samples of this new hybrid virus that have been studied, are genetically identical to the original delta variant, but with a spike protein that’s identical to omicron. And while there aren’t enough cases out there yet for this to be independently classified as a variant of concern, which means that it might not pick up enough steam to turn into the next COVID wave

The fact that genetically it’s reflecting the worst elements of the two worst variants means that in a worst case scenario, where it does become responsible for the next wave of cases, and it does affect our immune systems in the same way as its predecessors, it could combine the heightened death rate of Delta, with the vaccine-resistance and extreme infectivity of Omicron - and since last December we’ve been discussing exactly this possibility.

The DeltaCron virus is also already being confirmed around the world, with cases in the United States, France, Denmark, Germany, and the Netherlands - and it’s worth noting that although it seems like everyone is pretending that the pandemic is over, Germany just hit it’s highest daily rate of COVID infections since the start of the pandemic, and much of Europe is seeing a new rapid wave of cases as pandemic restrictions like mask and vaccine mandates are lifted. But hold on: there is some actual good news wrapped up in this very bad news scenario.

It’s better to think of DeltaCron as an approaching asteroid, it’s too far away to tell how it’s actually going to impact us - it might completely miss us by hundreds of thousands of miles, or it might make a direct hit and cause untold devastation. But the good news is that unlike an asteroid, even if it does make a direct hit, it may not be as bad as its hybrid predecessors: Delta and Omicron, because we’ve already experienced both viruses. It’s the same reason we haven’t had simultaneous waves of the same variant: once a wave passes through, and people are either infected, vaccinated, or both, it creates enough immunity across a population that it becomes much harder for that specific variant, or related variants, to pass through again with the same effects. And in fact, whether it hits us or not, 

the very existence of DeltaCron is yet another condemnation of the unvaccinated population being responsible for forcing this pandemic to go on so much longer than it has to. DeltaCron emerged through a process called “recombination”, which is when a person is infected with two variants simultaneously, and they exchange and copy genetic material creating a new, hybrid variant. And while this is rare, it’s also expected, it’s one of the ways that viruses mutate.

But specifically, recombination is more likely to happen in an unvaccinated person because vaccines dampen the genomic diversity of the virus they’re targeting, while unvaccinated patients show significantly more mutation and variance. The Omicron virus, for example, was thought to have come from a mutation within an unvaccinated person. The fact is, scientists have been expecting something like this to happen for months, and we talked about that when the Omicron variant was first discovered to be vaccine resistant.

So while COVID health mandates are being lifted globally, and vaccine rates are dropping - it’s not clear yet what the impact of the new variant will be, but we are actively creating the most perfect environment possible for it to thrive. This week, two years ago, COVID-19 was officially declared a pandemic, and despite the entire world experiencing nonstop devastation, here we are two years later somehow totally unprepared for another devastating wave.

Our inability to value human life over going out to restaurants, wearing masks, and taking safe and effective vaccines is so embarrassing that we can guarantee this era will be remembered as the most selfish, egotistical, and inconsiderate period of modern history. That is, if an asteroid or DeltaCron don’t wipe us out first.