Anthony Fauch, chief health adviser to US President Joe Biden, has warned that a gloomy winter is coming, as the coronavirus omicron strain is causing new waves of infection around the world, leading to new restrictions and concerns about hospital congestion.
“One thing that is clear (..) is the extraordinary spread of the omicorn type,” Fauchi told NBC News. “It’s just … raging around the world,” said the president’s adviser, who is also the director of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
Since the discovery of the omicron in South Africa in November, it has been found in several dozen countries, many of which have responded with new travel restrictions and other measures.
Although the omicron strain is not currently considered to be much more dangerous than the delta strain, which is still the predominant variant of the virus, vaccines against this strain are less effective and much more contagious.
Fauci also warned against being overly optimistic that omicron was not severely affected, suggesting that in South Africa, where the number of hospitalized patients with omicron was proportionately lower than with delta, it could be because many people developed immunity from omicron. previous infections.
Fauci predicted that if the situation did not improve in the next week or two, US hospitals would be heavily busy, especially in areas with low vaccination coverage.
U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren and Cory Bucker said on Twitter on Sunday that they had Covid-19, although they had been vaccinated and received a booster vaccine. Both politicians said they had moderate symptoms of Covid-19.
None of them indicated whether they were infected with the omicron variant.
Faux called on unvaccinated Americans to get vaccinated and vaccinated to receive a booster vaccine.
In the United States, just over 70% of the population have received at least one dose of Covid-19, but about 50 million people who could be vaccinated have not done so and are vulnerable to Covid-19, Fauci said.
“With a kind of omicron (..) we have several difficult weeks or months ahead of us,” he added.
Omycron currently accounts for about 3% of the total number of Covid-19 cases in the United States, but the number of omicron cases is expected to increase rapidly, as in other countries.
The United States is the country hardest hit by the pandemic in terms of total deaths. More than 800,000 people have died in the United States from Covid-19, according to data released by Jones Hopkins University.
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