Anthony Fauci said there is clear evidence that Omicrons are more transmissible. (File)
The Omicron variant of COVID-19 is more transmissible, US health officials say, reinforcing Americans’ need for a shot or booster shot.
Anthony Fauci, President Joe Biden’s top medical adviser, said on “Meet the Press,” Omicron “is a clear call” for everyone to get vaccinated. Infections in the US are on the rise, and increasing precautions with the emergence of a new variant will affect whether Americans are “entering a bleak or bleak winter,” he said.
Biden last week restricted US travel links starting Monday to eight African countries including South Africa, where Omicron was first identified. After Biden was briefed by his Covid response team and Fauci on Sunday, the White House said the president would provide an update on the US response to Omicron on Monday.
Francis Collins, Director of the National Institutes of Health, said there was “no reason to panic, but … a great reason to energize” with the discovery of Omicron last week in South Africa. . He said on Fox News Sunday on “Fox News Sunday”.
He added: “Given that history, we expect that it is very likely that current vaccines will suffice, and boosters in particular will provide that extra layer of protection.
The Omicron strain has spread rapidly in southern Africa and as far as Europe and Australia.
“It’s definitely coming” in the US, Fauci said on ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday. “The question is will we prepare for it?”
The US has yet to have a comprehensive, national effort to sequence Covid-19 cases to help detect new variants. Instead, federal officials have largely relied on the partial operations of the state and other private laboratories to track variations. On the other hand, South Africa is considered to have advanced gene sequencing capabilities.
“Omicron’s molecular characteristics strongly suggest that it will be more transmissible,” says Fauci. Currently, “we still don’t know how severe it will be” nor how easily this variant evades existing vaccines, he said.
Mild case
South African officials said the initial cases of symptoms caused by the omicron infection were mild.
A new targeted vaccine against Omicron will take “at least three months or so,” Collins said. This is a “great time” for Americans to get a booster shot or a primary shot, he said.
“Omicron is another reason to do this,” says Collins.
(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from an aggregated feed.)
