By Emily Goodin, Senior U.S. Political Reporter and Mansur Shaheen U.S. Deputy Health Editor For Dailymail.Com
Published: 09:46 EDT, 14 December 2021 | Updated: 13:04 EDT, 14 December 2021
The Biden administration is preparing for an explosion of Omicron cases that they believe will result in a flood of sick Americans going into the already overburdened hospital system.
'Everything points to a large wave. A large wave is coming,' a senior administration official in President Joe Biden's White House told Axios.
The official, however, expressed hope the cases wouldn't be as severe as previous COVID variants including Delta as the White House continues to push booster shots as the best protection.
'It will be fast. It won't be as severe, but regrettably, there will be plenty of hospitalizations,' the person said.
Omicron now makes up three per cent of all new US infections and has been detected in 33 U.S. states including Alaska and the District of Columbia, the CDC said on Tuesday. In New York and New Jersey, 13 percent of new cases have been caused by the new strain.
California brought back its mask mandate for all indoor places across the state on Monday, joining New York who did the same last week. In Philadelphia, residents must now show proof of vaccination to enter bars and restaurants, like in New York City.
The U.S. is currently averaging around 120,000 cases per day, a 49 percent increase over the past two weeks. Hospitalizations are rising as well, with an average 66,000 Americans receiving treatment every day, a 22 percent increase over the past two weeks.
Meanwhile, the total number of known coronavirus cases in the United States surpassed 50 million on Monday and the death toll is rapidly approaching more than 800,000.
And only 27 percent of those vaccinated have also received their booster shot, according to the CDC, which medical experts say can help ward off the new variant.
However, there have been increasing reasons for optimism in the face of the new strain, with the first real-world study in South Africa confirming Omicron is causing a third fewer hospitalizations than Delta.
The study also found two doses of Pfizer's vaccine provides 70 per cent protection against hospital admission or death from Omicron, compared to 93 per cent for Delta.
Pfizer also announced Tuesday morning that its new oral COVID-19 treatment could reduce hospitalizations and deaths caused by the Omicron variant by 90 percent.
Omicron is now in 33 U.S. states and the District of Columbia, including far off Alaska, as the mutant strain that has dominated the world in recent weeks continues its rampant spread across America
The Omicron COVID-19 variant (purple) now accounts for 3% of U.S. Covid cases, up from less than one percent last week. The Delta variant (orange) is still the nation's dominant strain, accounting for 97% of new cases, per CDC data
As of Monday, only 16 percent of Americans had received their COVID-19 booster shots, with no state having more than 30% of its population boosted
Pfizer's Covid pill slashes the risk of hospitalisation and death by up to 90 per cent and will work against Omicron, the vaccine maker claimed today.
A study of more than 2,200 at-risk adults found the drug, called Paxlovid, reduced the risk of severe outcomes by 89 per cent.
And a separate trial of the pill, which the UK has already ordered 250,000 doses of, on healthy unvaccinated adults found taking it within a few days of suffering Covid symptoms cuts the chance of being hospitalised by 70 per cent, Pfizer said.
Meanwhile, laboratory tests suggest Paxlovid will still offer a 'robust' response against the Omicron variant
Pfizer's boss Dr Albert Bourla said the emergence of Omicron has ‘exacerbated the need for accessible treatment options for those who contract the virus’ and the pill could be a ‘critical tool to help quell the pandemic’.
Omicron has already become the dominant strain in London after South Africa first raised the alarm on November 24 and has prompted further restrictions and lockdowns in other parts of Europe.
All of this is even before the Omicron variant has truly landed in the U.S., as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) still reports that 97 percent of sequenced cases are of the Delta variant, though Omicron has quickly grown from an insignificant variant in sequencing to making up three percent of cases.
In Washington state, one of the first places Omicron was detected in the US, the variant is spreading rapidly.
Researchers at the University of Washington found that 13 percent of 217 positive COVID specimens collected on Wednesday had the omicron mutation. That was up from about 7 percent of samples they had tested from the day before, and 3 percent from the day before that.
Omicron was first detected in the state two weeks ago.
As the holiday season approaches - where more people travel and gather in large groups - some states are reimposing face masks requirements and gearing up for a spike in cases, particularly as the highly-transmissible omicron variant gains steam.
Dr Anthony Fauci has said preliminary data suggests the omicron strain is less deadly than delta, but also cautioned that it is too early to say for sure.
And the Delta variant continues to spread, especially in the Midwest, Southwest and New England regions of the United States.
California and New York are among the states reinstating mask mandates.
In California, where cases have spiked 47% since Thanksgiving, the statewide mandate will take effect Wednesday and last at least until Jan. 15.
'We know people are tired and hungry for normalcy,' California health agency secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly told reporters during a press briefing. 'Frankly, I am too. 'That said, this is a critical time where we have a tool that we know has worked and can work.'
In New York, with more than 10,500 new cases per day, the mandate took effect Monday and applies to all public spaces that have not implemented a vaccine requirement.
On Monday, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the UK had seen its first Omicron death and cases are also on the rise there.
'What we now know about Omicron is that ... it's spreading at a phenomenal rate, something that we've never seen before. It's doubling every two to three days in infections,' UK Health Secretary Sajid Javid told Britain's Sky News Monday. 'That means we're facing a tidal wave of infection. We're once again in a race between the vaccine and the virus.'
Early data on the Omicron variant shows that the strain can bypass a majority of the protection provided by the original Covid vaccine regimen.
If correct, it means that much of America is still at severe risk from the new strain, and the low booster rates leave much of the nation vulnerable to another large virus surge.
Only 27% of those vaccinated have also received their booster shot - above Boston Mayor Michelle Wu gets her booster shot last week
Looters ransack 7-Eleven in Los Angeles during 'street-takeover'
Hochul orders re-arrest of sex offender who punched man in the face
Incredible moment driver dives for safety as his 18-wheeler flips
Bui Van Phu leaves Bronx Criminal Court over restaurant attack
Sanna Marin dances intimately with pop star at 4am in leaked video
Passengers brutally beat father-of four NYC taxi driver to death
Group of cyclists crash on highway after car passes too close
Racist and sexual abuse hurled at two NYPD cops in the street
June 2021: Anne Heche says she 'warned' Portia about dating ex Ellen
Former teen heartthrob, Aaron Carter, shares his sobriety journey
Talented artists draws six hyper-realistic portraits simultaneously
Drone captures moment man is attacked by alligator in Florida lake
Looters ransack 7-Eleven in Los Angeles during 'street-takeover'
Hochul orders re-arrest of sex offender who punched man in the face
Incredible moment driver dives for safety as his 18-wheeler flips
Bui Van Phu leaves Bronx Criminal Court over restaurant attack
Sanna Marin dances intimately with pop star at 4am in leaked video
Passengers brutally beat father-of four NYC taxi driver to death
Group of cyclists crash on highway after car passes too close
Racist and sexual abuse hurled at two NYPD cops in the street
June 2021: Anne Heche says she 'warned' Portia about dating ex Ellen
Former teen heartthrob, Aaron Carter, shares his sobriety journey
Talented artists draws six hyper-realistic portraits simultaneously
Drone captures moment man is attacked by alligator in Florida lake
Omicron is causing milder disease than Delta in patients in the epicentre of the new Covid variant, the first major real-world study in South Africa confirmed today.
Officials who analysed 78,000 Omicron cases in the past month estimated the risk of hospitalisation was a fifth lower than with Delta and 29 per cent lower than the original virus.
As a crude rate, Omicron is currently leading to a third fewer hospital admissions than Delta did during its entire wave — 38 admissions per 1,000 Omicron cases compared to 101 per 1,000 for Delta.
The findings lend weight to the theory that the ultra-infectious variant is weaker than previous strains, something which doctors on the ground in South Africa have been claiming for weeks.
But the reduction in severity is probably not solely down to Omicron being intrinsically milder, according to the South African Medical Research Council which led the analysis.
Around 70 per cent of South Africans have recovered from Covid already and 23 per cent are double-vaccinated, which has created high levels of immunity.
The study also found two doses of Pfizer's vaccine still provide 70 per cent protection against hospital admission or death from Omicron, compared to 93 per cent for Delta.
While this is more protection than many scientists initially feared, it still leaves 30 per cent of people vulnerable to severe Omicron disease, four times as many as Delta. Waning immunity from two Pfizer doses was found to offer just 33 per cent protection against Omicron infection, explaining why the country has seen a meteoric rise in case numbers.
Officials who looked at 78,000 Omicron cases in the past month found t he risk of hospitalisation was a fifth lower than with Delta (in green) and 29 per cent lower than the original virus (dark blue). Omicron is shown in brown and the original South African 'Beta' variant in light blue. Children appeared to have a 20 per cent higher risk of hospital admission with complications during the new wave than the initial outbreak, despite the numbers still being tiny
As a crude rate, Omicron is currently causing a third fewer hospital admissions than Delta did during its entire wave — 38 admissions per 1,000 Omicron cases, compared to 101 per 1,000 for Delta
The study also found that two doses of Pfizer's vaccine still provides 70 per cent protection against hospital admission or death from Omicron, compared to 93 per cent for Delta
Waning immunity from two Pfizer doses was found to offer just 33 per cent protection against Omicron infection, explaining why the country has seen a meteoric rise in case numbers
However, a highly anticipated study of Pfizer's Covid pill confirmed that it helps stave off severe disease, the company announced on Tuesday, adding the pill worked against the omicron strain.
'We are confident that, if authorized or approved, this potential treatment could be a critical tool to help quell the pandemic,' Albert Bourla, Pfizer's chief executive, said in a statement.
Last month, Pfizer asked the Food and Drug Administration to authorize the pill, known as Paxlovid. That authorization is still pending.
Currently, the US is averaging nearly 1,300 COVID deaths every day, a 32% increase within the last two weeks.
Hospitalizations related to COVID are growing as well, with 65,000 people receiving treatment for more severe cases every day - a 23% increase of the last 14 days.
According to official CDC data, 72% of Americans have received at lease one dose of a COVID vaccine, while 60% are fully vaccinated.
It was exactly one year ago today, on Dec. 14, 2020, a nurse in Queens became the first American to receive the COVID vaccine outside of medical trials.
The Omicron Covid variant spreading at a ferocious pace in the UK has become dominant in London barely two weeks after it was first detected, health chiefs revealed today.
Professor Kevin Fenton, the UK capital's director of public health, said data suggested the super-strain was already behind at least one in every two new infections in the city, up from 44 per cent just on Monday.
As the country's major transport hub, London quickly became England's Omicron epicentre after South Africa first raised the alarm on November 24. It is thought to have been seeded in the capital by travellers flying into the UK.
The capital's Covid infection rate has spiralled to its highest level since January when stringent curbs were in place, rising 55 per cent in a fortnight from 347 to 537 cases per 100,000 people.
And hospitalizations in the city have risen by 50 per cent over the same period, from 90 to 140 admissions a day on average. Deaths remain flat but it can take up to a month for fatalities to start rising due to the time it takes to fall seriously ill.
The surging cases in the capital and calls for more restrictions have echoes of last winter when London was the first place to be locked down in the run up to Christmas.
It comes as a major study today suggested that two doses of Pfizer's vaccine still provides 70 per cent protection against hospital admission and death from Omicron, compared to 93 per cent for Delta.
The first real-world study in South Africa also estimated t he risk of hospitalisation was a fifth lower than with Delta and 29 per cent lower than the original virus.
The findings lend weight to the theory that the ultra-infectious variant is weaker than previous strains, something which doctors on the ground in South Africa have been claiming for weeks.
The above maps show areas where the Omicron Covid variant has been detected in England over the two weeks to November 20 (left), and to December 4 (right). Areas where the variant has been detected are not coloured yellow. It shows how it has gone from just one local authority, to about half of the country. Areas with darker colours have detected more cases
Rising infections with the new weak variant will g...
The comments below have not been moderated.
The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline.
We are no longer accepting comments on this article.
Published by Associated Newspapers Ltd
Part of the Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday & Metro Media Group