The Biden administration said Friday it expects omicron to become the dominant strain of the coronavirus within weeks and predicted the fallout will divide into two paths, causing mild cases among vaccinated-and-boosted Americans while the unvaccinated confront a winter of misery and death.
White House COVID-19 Coordinator Jeff Zients said the U.S. will not allow the new variant to upend social and business routines despite rising case counts and dire predictions about omicron’s transmissibility.
“Unlike last winter, we now have the power to protect ourselves. Our vaccines work against omicron, especially for people who get booster shots when they are eligible,” he said. “We are intent on not letting omicron disrupt work and school for the vaccinated. You’ve done the right thing and we’ll get through this.”
However, he repeated the blunt warning President Biden levied at the unvaccinated a day earlier.
“If you’re unvaccinated, you’re looking at a winter of severe illness and death for yourselves, your families and the hospitals you may soon overwhelm,” Mr. Zients said, reiterating the call for primary vaccination, getting boosted when eligible and masking in public indoor spaces in areas of high transmission. “Our message to every American is clear. There is action you can take to protect yourself and your family.”
Countries around the world are seeing a proliferation of infections amid the onset of winter and the global spread omicron variant that was first detected in South Africa in late November.
“We expect it to become the dominant strain in the U.S. as it has in other countries, in the coming weeks,” said Rochelle Walensky, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Officials said omicron is clearly highly transmissible but the jury is out on whether it is more severe. Reports of milder illness might be due to the fact people who caught omicron in early reports had been vaccinated or enjoyed some immunity from prior infection.
Dr. Walensky said families should wear masks in public to avoid getting infected before they gather with friends and families for Christmas. She also said it would be wise to take a rapid test immediately before a gathering.
Dr. Walensky spoke one day after she endorsed an advisory panel’s decision to declare messenger-RNA vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna as preferable to the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine, citing concerns around a rare blood-clotting issue linked to the J&J shots.
She said the J&J vaccine will still be available to those who want it.
“Any vaccination is better than no vaccination,” Dr. Walensky said.
For more information, visit The Washington Times COVID-19 resource page.
Source:Washington Times
