Public health officials are starting to unravel in battle against variants

Like in a bad Hollywood movie, the variants are coming! Nay, they're here already, they're everywhere!

First there was the British variant, then the South African variant, and the Brazilian variant. Then the original British variant had to be renamed as the Kentish variant (in Britain at least), because there was now  a Liverpool variant and a Bristol variant as well. In the US, there was a nasty California variant and a mid West variant.

And now, following that bad Hollywood script, there is a new variant of concern first identified in New York City, a particularly nasty one that can apparently protect itself against antibodies and vaccines. And people are getting well and truly fed up with the whole variant thing. One New York public health advisor referred to it as "pathogen porn", and cautioned researchers to "please review high impact studies w/govt health depts before marketing it to [the] media".

Ouch, tetchy! Maybe it makes for a good soundbite, but those researchers are pedalling as fast as they can, and it is, after all, their job to alert public health authorities to anything that might conceivably help them, and in as timely a manner as possible. The New York variant now makes up over 12% of positive tests in New York and surrounding areas (as of mid-February), so it is not insignificant, and people need to know about it. 

I get it that public health officials are tired and approaching the end of their tether after a year of battling against this virus. But, hey, don't shoot the messenger. That's not going to help anybody.