Dr. Anthony Fauci urges qualified Americans to immediately get inoculated or get their booster shots before the holidays.
During his recent interview, Fauci warned Americans of another possible surge of Omicron cases in the coming days. He also said that it's only a matter of time before Omicron takes over and affects more people.
"Be prudent in everything else you do: When you travel in your indoor settings that are congregated, wear a mask. We can't walk away from that, Jake, we can't. Because with Omicron, that we're dealing with, it is going to be a tough few weeks to months as we get deeper into the winter," he said via CNN.
The World Health Organization confirmed that Omicron could become the most dominant strain in the United States in the coming weeks.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio says no to lockdown
In New York City, the daily test positivity rates soared about six percent last week, and over 5,000 new cases were also reported. But despite the increasing number of Omicron cases in the Big Apple, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio rejected calls for another round of lockdowns.
"Don't fight yesterday's war. This is not March of 2020. We're one of the most highly vaccinated places in the United States of America. The more we vaccinate, the more we can get through this. The great danger here is shutdowns and restrictions. That would really destroy, in so many ways, people's livelihoods and it would, I think, after everything people have been through - it would be traumatizing," he said via New York Post.
New Year's Eve celebration at Times Square could be canceled
Two days later, de Blasio said that he's still contemplating the fate of the New Year's Eve celebration in Times Square two weeks from now. He said that he would decide whether the gathering would push through or not on Christmas Day, according to NBC New York.
Before Omicron hit the United States and other parts of the world, de Blasio already announced that the New Year's Eve celebration in Times Square would push through. The news was welcomed by locals and even by residents from nearby states.
After all, last year's event was a socially-distanced version of the usually jampacked gathering to commemorate the start of another year. But because of the rising cases of Omicron in recent weeks, it's possible for this year's event to either be canceled or allow only a limited number of guests.
Kathy Hochul wants to protect resident's health, state's economy
Like de Blasio, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul doesn't support the idea of another lockdown in the state.
Hochul admitted that Omicron spreads quickly, but she rejected claims that the variant could be even more dangerous than Delta.
The governor added that as much as she wants to protect the health of New York residents, she also wants to protect the state's economy.
Hochul doesn't also want to stop kids from going to school, and she doesn't want to see businesses shutting down again. After all, she's confident that they have the tools to combat the deadly virus, according to Daily Mail.
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