SARS-CoV-2 vs. COVID-19

There appears to be a trend of people conflating the two terms, SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19, and using them interchangeably. Perhaps if people understood the difference, they could better understand the pandemic and the response to it, namely vaccines. I'm going to try to clarify and explain things below to help clear things up.

Coronavirus
A family of crown shaped RNA viruses that cause diseases in mammals and birds. In humans coronaviruses cause infections in the respiratory tract and are responsible for seasonal illnesses such as the common cold. We can use antivirals to help fight of viruses; antibiotics have no effect.

SARS-CoV-2
A novel (new) coronavirus identified toward the end of 2019 that has an ~80% sequence identity to SARS. We only have one approved antiviral to help treat SARS-CoV-2 which is Remdesivir. 

COVID-19
A disease that may develop in people who are infected by SARS-CoV-2.

Transmission

You are able to catch SARS-CoV-2 (the coronavirus) and transmit it to others, but never actually develop COVID-19 (the disease) yourself. This is what being "asymptomatic" refers to; you carry the virus but never develop the disease. SARS-CoV-2 is not deadly itself; the risk is that you develop COVID-19 as a result of contracting the virus. The virus is mainly transmitted in confined spaces and indoors environments with poor air circulation; this is because the viral load (volume of virus particles) accumulates and cannot disperse easily; as a result, inhaling the air means introducing a large amount of the virus into your respiratory system.

PCR and LFT tests can detect SARS-CoV-2 presence, but not COVID-19. This is why the tests can identify "asymptomatic" cases where people have no idea they are even infected. This is also why case counts do not directly correlate with hospitalisations or deaths. The demographic being tested may have a low risk of SARS-CoV-2 progressing to COVID-19.

Risk Profile

Whether SARS-CoV-2 progresses to COVID-19 is highly dependent on your risk profile. The elderly, obese, those with a weak immune system, and those with comorbidities are much more likely to develop COVID-19 if they catch SARS-CoV-2. The younger and healthier that you are, the less chance there is of COVID-19 developing even should you catch SARS-CoV-2.

For young children, the risk is effectively zero. You can check your own risk profile at www.qcovid.org to see your Relative Risk (RR) and Absolute Risk (AR) to help inform your decision of vaccination.

Treatments

We are now almost 18 months into the pandemic and over this period we have learned how to successfully treat COVID-19 except for in the most severe instances. We have learned how the disease presents, and how to best treat it. The IFR (infection fatality rate) and CFR (case fatality rate) are not nearly as bad as first estimated.

Vaccines

The vaccines are designed to prevent the virus causing the disease. This is achieved by priming the body with the SARS-CoV-2 viral spike protein that typically causes COVID-19, so that antibodies are developed in anticipation for a future occurrence. The vaccines do not prevent you catching, or transmitting the SARS-CoV-2 virus; they only lessen the likelihood of developing COVID-19.

As you can still transmit SARS-CoV-2 to other people after being vaccinated, your choice to vaccinate has no impact on the safety of others around you. You can still catch and transmit SARS-CoV-2 to others who may then develop COVID-19. The vaccine only benefits yourself in the sense that it prepares your body for the possibility of COVID-19 disease developing should you catch the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

I believe the vaccine should only be considered if your risk of developing COVID-19 outweighs the possibility of having an Adverse Event (Reaction) from the vaccine itself. I remain unconvinced that informed consent is being sought prior to vaccinating people; I am fairly confident that most people have no idea of the sheer volume and variety of adverse events occurring from deafness, to blindness, to heart attacks, strokes, and death.

There appears to be an agenda to get everybody vaccinated, and the reluctance to be transparent over vaccine related injuries and deaths relating to the COVID-19 candidates is both terrifying, and illuminating.