COVID-19 continues to evolve—that is what viruses do. One way to look at it is that when a virus replicates, its copy is often not perfect. Some copies are weaker than the original, while some are stronger. The accuracy of the copy is relatively random (an oversimplification—but you get the idea).
The media is currently tracking the Omicron variant, which is concerning because it may be more contagious and may be able to bypass some of the antibodies that the vaccines provide.
I decided to see what is happening in my state—Virginia. Below is a graph of the different variants. No cases of the Omicron variant have been reported as of now. However, it is obvious that variants have infected more people than the original virus.
I was down for nearly three weeks with COVID in December 2020 and January 2021, so I most likely had the original COVID-19. However, the current threat is predominantly the Delta variant. The Delta variant has infected 12,063 people in Virginia, surpassing the 2,879 who had the Alpha—the original virus.
So far scientists have identified twelve variants in Virginia (not counting Omicron). Most likely there will be many more before this is over, which could put us in a game of medical “Whacka Mole” as treatments that work with one strain fail with other strains of the virus.
Even more scary is that we’ve done this to ourselves. Every unvaccinated person who is infected—whether they experience any symptoms or not—acts as a breeding ground in which the virus can mutate.
One final thought. As the number of variants increase, through DNA analysis, it may be possible to prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, which person passed which virus to another. If so, a lot of lawyers will make a lot of money as victims sue the unvaccinated carrier who caused them to suffer from COVID.
sfnowak 
Since the vaccines don’t prevent spread, the vaccinated can also look forward to lawsuits from unvaccinated people.
All the more reason to wear a mask–to protect yourself and others.
Have you considered the physics behind mask dynamics?
I have considered the physics at https://navigatingthecovidconfusion.wordpress.com/2021/09/24/what-about-masks-for-covid-do-they-prevent-transmission/
I tried to answer this once before, but I don’t think it went.
First, the interchange of ideas is what science is all about. There are no facts, only theories. There is too much “Did not!”, “Did so!” these days, so your comments were refreshing.
I seem to recall that I had about 6 classes in physics in college, but that was so long ago; physics may not have changed, but my memory most likely has. The good news is that we’ll know more in the future than we do now.
Here are my comments, not to refute yours, but grist for the mental mill. First, the 50 micron belief was that anything larger than 50 microns could not be spread by aerosol, only droplets. This was based on tuberculosis, which is a bacterium. The tubercle bacillus must get down into the bronchial tree, whereas COVID-19 only needs to get into the oronasal mucosa. This is why at first they focused on hand washing and surface cleaning–to protect against droplets. When they realized that the virus was traveling by aerosol, there was a shift in focus to masks. In all fairness, this may better support your arguments, but that’s how science works.
The N-95 masks are electrostatically charged so that particles cling to filaments in the mask. If you Google that, you may find a far more satisfactory answer that I can provide (try https://www.wrtv.com/news/coronavirus/n95-kn95-and-kf94-masks-what-you-should-know-and-where-you-can-find-them.)
I spent time in the military and was vaccinated against smallpox (which no longer exists outside of a few laboratories) even though I had been vaccinated as a child. I was also vaccinated against anthrax, yellow fever, and diseases I never heard of. When I was in ICU with COVID (before vaccines were available) I quite literally thought I would die by being unable to breathe.
In the 1980s at a hospital where I worked, we posted various interesting X-ray studies. When we posted a chest X-ray that demonstrated tuberculosis, none of the resident physicians had a clue as to what it was. That was before AIDs hit, weakened people’s immune systems, and allowed TB to return.
In any case, it’s great that Science requires us to think and challenge.
I’m going to follow your blog. Maybe we can find an appropriate topic for you to post on my site or one for us to post together. In the meantime, all the best.
Steve
I think that I mostly agreed with your comment.
There was a new article that you might find interesting about masks wicking droplets–published in “Nature” in Jan. 2022. Basically, it said that masks wick droplets and increase evaporation rates, in line with my expectations that I published on my blog. The CDC and its mask-regulating subsidiary, NIOSH, haven’t done any of this research and all masking recommendations are based on SWAGs. Note that the CDC mask recommendations were published years before the new research–going back to 2020.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-04877-w
My arguments against vaccinations are based on common sense. First, vaccine development was rushed and this must have forced many mistakes. Second, there were no long-term safety trials. Third, there was no credible risk-benefit analysis for any of the age groups. Fourth, the vaccines were rolled out to the highest risk groups in the dead of winter when those groups were least likely to benefit due to the winter drop in immune competence. Fifth, people who were vaccinated weren’t given any list of possible side effects. Sixth, pharma wanted legal immunity to liability for the vaccines, while the regulators bleated, “The vaccines are safe and effective.” Seventh, the regulators have not published any guidelines about how to rule out harm from vaccines when post mortems are done. So most deaths will be missed.
Eighth, I considered all of the actions by the FDA and CDC to smear early antiviral treatments in order to make way for an EUA for vaccines. The FDA recommended against early treatment with hydroxychloroquine, before there had been any studies of early treatment–there was no science to support the FDA position. The FDA removed its EUA for using hydroxychloroquine in the hospital based on a fraudulent, now-retracted Lancet article. The FDA never revisited its EUA after the fraud was exposed.
We have seen evidence to support my common-sense argument about mistakes being made. Because of a whistle blower, we know that many mistakes were made by pharma subcontractors responsible for monitoring vaccine safety and effectiveness. And we know that the FDA did absolutely no investigation into what the whistleblower reported. We know this because the whistleblower reports this and the FDA doesn’t contradict this. The whistleblower was fired from her company.