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There was still a danger of a surge in hospitalization due to a large number of covid cases even as early data suggests the Omicron COVID-19 variant is less severe, Top U.S. infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci said.
"The only difficulty is that if you have so many many cases, even if the rate of hospitalization is lower with Omicron than it is with Delta, there is still the danger that you will have a surging of hospitalizations that might stress the healthcare system," Fauci said in an interview on Sunday with CNN.
If you are not boosted, get boosted
Last week, Fauci called on people to get their COVID-19 vaccine booster shots. In an interview to CBSN, Fauci pointed out, “We are telling everybody, and I will state it very clearly now, that optimum protection is with a boost. If you are not boosted, get boosted."
“What is called by definition, for legal or other purposes, a 'fully vaccinated person,' is, in fact, irrelevant. If you want to be fully protected, get boosted. I am saying it very loud and very clear right now."
"This is a very dynamic situation," Fauci said and added, "We are dealing with a brand-new, extraordinarily transmissible variant, the Omicron variant."
“Although the vaccination, when you have a highly transmissible virus, may not prevent you from getting infected, it is very likely that you will either be without symptoms or minimally symptomatic," Fauci explains how vaccines can help.
The major purpose of the vaccine is to prevent you from getting sick, from getting clinically ill and, hopefully, to prevent you from getting hospitalized and dying," Fauci said. "In fact, the data show that the vaccines are highly successful in doing just that."
With the Omicron variant of the virus sweeping around the world, more than 440,000 new cases were reported in the US on Friday, almost exactly 200,000 more than during a peak last February.
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