The covid virus is an RNA virus. It is composed of one single strand of RNA and that strand is surrounded by a protein shell that has spiky protrusions all over it. That’s what makes it a “coronavirus”. There is a whole group of different kinds of coronaviruses, some of which do cause us the experience a “cold”. There are other viruses that cause a cold as well that are not coronaviruses. The covid virus is related to the cold version sort of like the way a hawk is to a dove. Both are birds but each are of different species. There are several new mutations of covid. One that appears to be world wide causes very easy infection. So far no mutation has increased the deadlyness…Understand… every time the virus replicates itself it rearranges its RNA strand. So, it mutates easily and frequently. But that does not mean vaccines will not work on a version in NYC but will in Texas.
Generally folks don’t die from the common cold anywhere near they do from the flu and covid is 10 to 15 times worse than the flu death rate, depending on the group of people one is dealing with. Apparently pre-teens don’t get as sick or die at nearly the rate and old curmudgeon like m e does.
Covid has ravaged the economy of nearly every country world wide. It has infected 17.6 million people world wide and killed close to 700,000 people. Here in the US 4.7 million are infected that we know about thru testing but the real number is sure to be far higher. Confirmed deaths are 156.000 and that’s ten times the deaths caused by the flu. Flu is not, repeat, not a coronavirus. Yet we make new vaccines each year for it because it mutates. And getting a vaccine that is highly effective is like hitting a moving target with a bow and arrow. Some years we nail it. We do not know yet about safety or effectiveness of coming covid vaccines. There are something like a hundred projects going world wide on this. The most promising and the furthest along in the 3 step process is the one being made by Moderna with CDC assistance. They are at the last step. Wide spread testing. This whole process got started last January when the Chinese published the genomic sequence of this virus. Computer modeling began within hours of that publication. The reason I know a bit about this virus is because I have an old habit of reading arcane science publications from across several fields of science. I have a PhD in biochem/endocrinology.
If we all would wear masks when out in public spaces and keeping distant we would reduce covid significantly and as an added bonus we would also reduce the flu and colds and any other respiratory disease. No matter what trump or Louie Gohmert might think.
One last bit of advice. Now is not the time to be in a bar. Close contact between people in an enclosed space like a bar where folk are doing what humans enjoy doing … over hours is exceedingly dangerous to one’s health right now. Do your drinking at home and your conviviality among your friends remotely. Remember, your health decisions affect more than just you. They affect everyone you come in contact with
I hope my extended babbling in this post makes some sense
