White House chief medical adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci said Friday that an upcoming surge of the omicron variant of the coronavirus was “inevitable.”
Speaking at the White House COVID-19 response team briefing, Fauci said the U.S. is looking over its shoulder at oncoming omicron infections.
“We are in a situation: we are now facing a very important delta surge and we are looking over our shoulder at an oncoming omicron surge,” he said.
COVID-19 OMICRON AND DELTA VARIANTS BRING US A DOUBLE SURGE
“Clearly, unvaccinated individuals … are really at a high risk of serious involvement, including hospitalization. The fully vaccinated are doing much better off but, as I’ve shown you … the optimum protection is fully vaccinated plus a boost,” Fauci added.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky announced that the seven-day average of hospital admissions had increased by about 4% and deaths had increased by more than 8% from the prior week.
“Although delta continues to circulate widely in the United States, omicron is increasing rapidly and we expect it to become the dominant strain in the United States – as it has in other countries – in the coming weeks,” she said. “We’ve seen cases of omicron among those who are both vaccinated and boosted and we believe these cases are milder or asymptomatic because of vaccine protection.”
A line stretches down the block as people wait in line to be tested for COVID-19 in New York on Thursday, Dec. 16, 2021.
(AP Photo/Brooke Lansdale)
“What we do know is we have the tools to protect ourselves against COVID-19,” the Walensky noted, echoing previous comments by White House COVID-19 response coordinator Jeff Zients.
Zients said the administration was intent on not letting omicron disrupt work in school for the vaccinated, but said the unvaccinated are looking at a “winter of severe illness and death.”
“We are prepared to confront this new challenge,” he pledged, adding that…
Source : foxnews
