Dr. Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, stated that Americans will "simply have to cope with" the idea of receiving additional coronavirus booster doses.
Fauci made the announcement on Sunday morning, saying that the amount of protection provided by the current coronavirus booster doses will need to be regularly examined over the next few months.
Fauci says Omicron variant can evade vaccine protection
He went on to say that the booster shot might "dramatically" raise the amount of protection, Fox News reported. Dr. Fauci was answering to ABC's George Stephanopoulos's query on whether Americans could expect yearly booster doses. However, "official requirements" for being completely vaccinated are not altering for the time being.
In "sobering news," omicron may elude the protection provided by first vaccines, but boosters enhance effectiveness and provide superior protection against the newest variant of concern, according to Dr. Anthony Fauci on Sunday.
Per ABC7, Omicron has a high degree of transmissibility, which Fauci believes is obvious when the Delta and Omicron versions vie for supremacy. According to ABC's COVID-19 Tracker, the national average seven-day COVID-19 case rate has climbed by 11% in the United States while hospitalizations have increased by 11%.
According to Fauci, there are 60 million eligible Americans who have not yet been vaccinated and around 100 million who are eligible for boosters. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said 60.7 percent of the total US population is completely vaccinated, and around 26 percent of the country's population - more than 50 million people - have gotten a booster dose.
The omicron version was identified last month in southern Africa and has been designated as a "variant of interest" by experts. Early anecdotal evidence suggests that the majority of people who develop the new variant have moderate sickness, but researchers agree that it's too soon to determine what the long-term consequences will be.
COVID-19 booster is "optimal care"
With Omicron's transmission advantage and protection evasion, Stephanopoulos challenged Fauci on whether a three-shot vaccination regimen will become the standard of treatment, something he has been hesitant to affirm. While the official requirements remain two doses of an mRNA vaccine and one dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, Fauci believes that having a booster is the "optimal care."
However, as Stephanopoulos pointed out, the World Health Organization has stated that boosters will increase global vaccination distribution imbalances and has encouraged wealthy nations to refrain from using them. The major source of concern is that some people are receiving many doses while other nations are yet to receive their first injection.
Despite recent advances in vaccination coverage, particularly booster doses, the Kaiser Family Foundation reports that over 40% of eligible people in the United States are still unvaccinated. Furthermore, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends wearing a mask in an indoor crowded area, especially if the immunization status of the people in the place is not easily known or identified. Although masking may not last forever, it will aid in getting out of a bad circumstance, according to Fauci.
Meanwhile, experts are discovering Omicron's characteristics. Preliminary data showed that Omicron was relatively modest, according to CDC Director Rochelle Walensky last Monday. The disease has impacted over 50,801,455 people in the country since the outbreak, and more than 817,956 people have died as a result of coronavirus.
Furthermore, the Food and Drug Administration gave emergency clearance on Thursday for 16 and 17-year-olds to receive a third booster dose of the COVID-19 vaccine made by Pfizer and its partner BioNTech if their prior treatment was more than six months ago. Walensky issued a statement strongly recommending those children to get their booster shot as soon as possible, as per Republic World.
Related Article: Health Officials Warn of Coronavirus Cases As Omicron Variant Spreads to 17 US States
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