Top US pandemic advisor Anthony Fauci on Sunday warned of a bleak winter ahead as the Omicron coronavirus variant spurs a new wave of infections globally, sparking restrictions and concerns over hospital capacity.
“One thing that’s very clear... is (Omicron’s) extraordinary capability of spreading,” Fauci told NBC News. “It is just... raging through the world.” Traveling will increase the risk of infection even among vaccinated people, he said.
Since it was first reported in South Africa in November, Omicron has been identified in dozens of countries, prompting many to reimpose travel restrictions and other measures.
Despite indications, it is not more severe than the Delta variant -- currently still the dominant strain -- the heavily mutated Omicron has been shown in early data to have a worrying resistance to vaccines and higher transmissibility.
Fauci also cautioned against too much optimism over Omicron’s severity, noting that in South Africa, while the hospitalization-to-case ratio is lower than with Delta, this could be due to underlying immunity from widespread previous infections.
“No matter how you look at it,” he said, “when you have so many, many infections, even if it is less severe, that overcomes this slight to moderate diminution in severity.”
“Our hospitals, if things look like they’re looking now in the next week or two, are going to be very stressed,” particularly in areas of the country with low levels of vaccination, Fauci said.
On Sunday, US Senators Elizabeth Warren and Cory Booker each said separately on Twitter that they had tested positive for Covid-19 despite being vaccinated and boosted, and were experiencing mild symptoms.
Neither indicated whether they had been infected with Omicron. Fauci urged u n v a c c i n a t e d Americans to get a shot and the vaccinated to get boosters, which have been shown to re-up protection. ‘TOUGH FEW WEEKS TO MONTHS’
The administration of President Joe Biden, who is due to address the nation on pandemic developments today, has been campaigning hard for vaccination.
While a little more than 70 percent of the US population has had at least one shot, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, another 50 million eligible people remain unprotected, Fauci said.
“With Omicron... it is going to be a tough few weeks to months as we get deeper into the winter,” he added.
Omicron now accounts for around three percent of cases in the United States, a figure that is expected to rise rapidly, as has been seen in other countries.
On Saturday, New York state announced a record number of daily cases for the second day in a row, with almost 22,000 positive results.
Meanwhile, Europe’s medicines watchdog yesterday approved a Covid jab by US-based Novavax, which uses a more conventional technology that the biotech firm hopes will reduce vaccine hesitancy.
The protein-based vaccine of the kind used around the world to protect against many childhood illnesses is the fifth coronavirus shot authorized for use in the European Union.
“EMA has recommended granting a conditional marketing authorization for Novavax’s Covid-19 vaccine 'Nuvaxovid' to prevent Covid-19 in people from 18 years of age,” the European Medicines Agency said in a statement.
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