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More U.S. states desperate to fight COVID-19 are calling on the National Guard and other military personnel to assist virus-weary medical staffs at hospitals and other care centers.

Unvaccinated people are overwhelming hospitals in certain states, especially in the Northeast and the Upper Midwest. New York, meanwhile, announced a statewide indoor mask order, effective Monday and lasting five weeks through the holiday season.

“We’re entering a time of uncertainty, and we could either plateau here or our cases could get out of control,” Governor Kathy Hochul warned Friday.

In Michigan, health director Elizabeth Hertel was equally blunt: “I want to be absolutely clear: You are risking serious illness, hospitalization and even death” without a vaccination.

The seven-day rolling average for daily new cases in the U.S. rose over the past two weeks to 117,677 by Thursday, compared to 84,756 on Nov. 25, Thanksgiving Day, according to Johns Hopkins University. The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 has soared to about 54,000 on average, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Meanwhile, the country is approaching a new milestone of 800,000 COVID-19 deaths. More than 200 million Americans, or about 60% of the population, are now fully vaccinated.

In Maine, which hit a pandemic high this week with nearly 400 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, as many as 75 members of the National Guard were being summoned to try to keep people out of critical care with monoclonal antibodies and to perform other non-clinical tasks.

Maine has one of the highest COVID-19 vaccination rates in the country – 73% – but that rate lags in many of the state’s rural pockets.

The New York National Guard said it had deployed 120 Army medics and Air Force medical technicians to 12 nursing homes and long-term care facilities to relieve fatigued staff.

Dr. Paolo Marciano, chief medical officer at Beaumont Hospital in Dearborn, Michigan, said it was a “tremendous lifeline” to get assistance from the Defense Department, which has more than 60 nurses, doctors and respiratory therapists assigned to the state.

“It allowed us to be able to care for the COVID patients and at the same time still maintain the level of care that cancer patients require or people with chronic illnesses,” Marciano said. “Where we are today is really just keeping our heads above water.”

New York’s mask order covers all indoor public places unless a business or venue has a vaccine requirement. The state reported more than 68,000 positive tests for the virus in a seven-day period that ended Wednesday, the most for any seven-day stretch since February.

New York City and several upstate New York counties already have mask mandates. Critics, however, said the governor’s announcement was another burden for businesses.

“Government overreach at its worst,” said Republican Assemblyman Mike Lawler.

Michigan is sending more ventilators to hospitals and asking for even more from the national stockpile. Infection rates and hospitalizations are at record levels, 21 months into the pandemic. The first case of the omicron variant was confirmed Thursday in the Grand Rapids area.

The largest hospital system in Indiana enlisted the National Guard for support this week after the number of COVID-19 patients in the state more than doubled in the past month. The state’s COVID-19 hospitalizations are now higher than Indiana’s summer surge that peaked in September and are approaching the pandemic peak reached in late 2020.

 
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Lung cancer is the deadliest form of the disease, according to the American Cancer Society. But it doesn’t get nearly the same amount of research dollars as breast or prostate cancer. That may be changing, thanks to one man’s efforts and new guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC. VOA’s Saba Shah Khan reports.
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South Korea, widely seen as a global model of coronavirus containment, faces its biggest pandemic challenge yet, as COVID-19 cases and deaths continue to rise after the country began removing pandemic related restrictions.

Daily caseloads surpassed 7,000 Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. That is quadruple the daily numbers reported at the beginning of November, when South Korea pivoted toward its living with COVID-19 plan.

In the Seoul metropolitan area, where more than half the country’s population resides, intensive care hospital beds are full. The country has also hit new daily highs for the number of severely ill COVID-19 patients, which stood at 857 Thursday.

Although South Korea has tallied only a fraction of the cases and deaths of other developed countries such as the United States and Britain, its fatality rate rose to 1.4% over the past week. That is the ninth highest among 38 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development nations.

South Korea’s deteriorating situation demonstrates the challenges of returning to life as normal, complicated by the delta variant that undermined government projections, even in a country that had until now been spared the worst of the pandemic.

Grim warnings

Government officials, who have been careful not to raise unnecessary alarms as they sought to keep businesses open, are now sounding a grimmer tone.

At a meeting of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters on Friday, Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum, who oversees the pandemic response, judged that the country’s medical response capability was quickly burning out, warning that stricter social distancing measures may need to be enforced if the “risky situation” does not soon turn around.

The prime minister again placed heavy emphasis on vaccination, including for minors. He announced the interval between the second vaccine shot and boosters would be shortened to three months.

The government paused its “living with COVID-19” transition Monday, replacing it with an expanded “vaccine pass” mandate. The new plan requires people who gather in limited groups at restaurants and cafes to show proof of vaccination or a very recent negative PCR test result upon entry. This usually takes the form of a smartphone application, called COOV. The mandate extends to other public facilities, including gyms, study rooms and bars.

Risk control

The figure that health officials are watching closely is the number of severe COVID-19 patients, especially as hospitals are taxed. A recent projection by the National Institute for Mathematical Sciences put that figure as likely to exceed 1,000 by next week, and the overall daily caseload could reach the 12,000 level by the end of the month.

That is an alarming prospect for hospital staff, who are already exhausted by the unrelenting stream of COVID-19 patients.

“Non-COVID patients are not able to access the ER.” Dr. Chon Eun-mi, a pulmonologist at Ewha Womans University Mokdong Hospital, told VOA.

“The ER is clogged with COVID patients, leaving people with other symptoms no choice but to wait it out at home. Surgeries are also being delayed,” she said.

It’s a similar picture at other major hospitals across Seoul, nearby Incheon and the surrounding Gyeonggi province.

Kim issued an administrative order for 1,700 more hospital beds to be secured outside of the capital.

Those 60 years and older, with waning vaccine immunity, have made up most of the severe breakthrough cases as the delta variant spreads in the country.

“The government didn’t expect this many severe COVID cases since we had made vaccination progress,” Chon said, referring to South Korea’s 92% vaccination rate among adults.

“It broadly adopted its ‘living with COVID’ transition, more people moved about, and those who were immunocompromised or elderly became reinfected. But, this time, they had to wait at home because there were no available hospital beds. Their conditions worsened and they died before they could get real help,” she said.

Chon said COVID-19 patients should be centralized at a large facility such as a stadium, convention hall or borrowed hotel, where those with mild symptoms can receive antibody or remdesivir treatment before their conditions worsen. She said the current approach of remotely treating mild patients from home is not working.

The omicron factor

South Korea has detected at least 63 cases of the omicron variant, 48 of which were linked to community spread.

Omicron, which the World Health Organization last month designated a variant of concern, was first reported by South Africa. Health experts fear it may be more transmissible, but it is not yet clear if it causes more or less severe symptoms.

Seoul has limited arrivals from a growing list of African countries, most recently Ghana and Zambia. It also instituted a mandatory 10-day quarantine on all international arrivals, regardless of their vaccination status.

Dr. Chung Jae-hoon, adviser to the prime minister’s office and the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, recently offered this assessment to a local newspaper.

“Expect to stay in this COVID-19 reality for at least another three years. Delta has taught us that vaccination alone will not end the crisis. The first half of next year will be even harder for medical staff. Bigger challenges remain,” he said.

Lee Juhyun contributed to this report.
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The United States rushed millions of COVID-19 vaccine doses for children ages 5-11 across the nation, but demand for inoculations for younger kids has been low, more than a dozen state public health officials and physicians said.

Of the 28 million eligible U.S. children in that age group, around 5 million have received at least one dose, according to federal data, likely satisfying initial pent-up demand from parents who were waiting to vaccinate their kids.

At the current pace, fewer than half of U.S. children ages 5-11 are expected to be fully vaccinated in the coming months, state officials told Reuters. Some states, including Mississippi, said thousands of vaccine doses are sitting idle.

“We are concerned that the demand is not going to be as quick and as great as it was for the adult population,” said Karyl Rattay, director of Delaware’s division of public health.

A smaller dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for those aged 5-11 received U.S. authorization last month, with the first shots going into young arms on Nov. 3.

Vaccine hesitancy among adult caregivers has affected the vaccination rate for this age group more than other groups, physicians told Reuters.

“I think parents are nervous. There’s probably a cohort of parents who felt comfortable vaccinating themselves… but are hesitant to vaccinate their children,” said Dr. Matthew Harris, a pediatrician leading COVID-19 vaccinations for the Northwell Health hospital system in New York.

The push to vaccinate children has taken on fresh urgency amid concerns that the new Omicron variant of the virus, first identified in southern Africa and Hong Kong in late November, will spread quickly in the United States, causing a surge in infections already back on the rise from the easily transmitted delta variant.

Given the pervasiveness of delta and prospects of new variants spreading in the United States, “having as much immunity in the population as possible is critical,” said Dr. Amesh Adalja, senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security.

While serious illness and death from COVID-19 among children is relatively rare, cases among unvaccinated people under age 17 have increased in recent months. Infected children can also pass COVID-19 to other people at higher risk of serious illness, including those who have already been vaccinated.

Some parents have been concerned about reports of heart inflammation, a rare vaccine side effect seen in young men at higher rates than the rest of the population.

On Tuesday, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky said the agency has been scouring its database of adverse events and has not found any reports of the condition among 5- to 11-year-old recipients of the vaccine.

The children’s vaccine rollout may also be hampered by staffing shortages at healthcare providers, and greater reliance on pediatricians as opposed to larger and more efficient mass vaccination centers, said Sean O’Leary, a professor of pediatrics at University of Colorado.

Fewer than 20% of U.S. children ages 5-11 have gotten at least one shot so far, compared to around 80% of U.S. adults, according to federal data. Of particular concern is that the number of U.S. children getting COVID-19 shots may already be plateauing.

In the past week, more children have been receiving a second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine than a first, according to government data. That suggests a slowdown in demand aside from those who were anxious to get their kids vaccinated at the first opportunity.

“I think what we were hoping for was that parents would have these meaningful conversations with pediatricians and that would provide them confidence to vaccinate their kids,” Northwell’s Harris said. “I’m not sure that that’s really come to fruition.” 

 

 

 
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Health officials in the United States, Israel and other nations have for months been pushing for COVID-19 booster shots among older populations, and those calls are now growing worldwide.  The issue was discussed at an extraordinary meeting at World Health Organization in Geneva convened by SAGE, the 15-member Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on vaccination.

Current data show that vaccines against COVID-19 provide a robust level of protection against severe forms of disease. However, emerging evidence indicates vaccines begin to lose their effectiveness about six months after they have been administered. This puts older adults and people with underlying conditions at particular risk. 

Chair of SAGE, Alejandro Cravioto, says the group of experts agrees a booster shot would provide a greater level of protection for people at risk.  However, he notes vaccines are in short supply in many parts of the world.  He says the wide administration of booster doses risks exacerbating inequities in vaccine access.

He notes most current infections are among unvaccinated people, the majority of whom live in poor, developing countries.  He says SAGE believes they should receive these life-saving vaccines instead of further doses being provided to people who already are fully inoculated against the coronavirus.

“For the time being, we continue to support — one, the need for equity in the distribution and allocation of vaccines and, two, the use of third doses only on those that we have previously recommended.  Those that have received inactivated vaccines and those that are immuno-compromised, which are the two groups that we feel should be protected further by a third dose of the primary process,” he said.  

Cravioto said meeting participants also discussed the feasibility of mixing and matching different vaccines, such as those developed by Pfizer and Moderna to achieve full immunity against COVID.

“WHO supports a flexible approach to homologous or a single platform versus a heterologous mix and match schedules. We still believe that the best approach is to use the same vaccine for the two primary doses,” Cravioto said.

For national immunization programs, however, he said a different vaccine can be used for an additional third dose.  This, if the vaccine used for the two primary shots is in short supply and unavailable. 
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As cases of COVID-19 caused by the omicron variant soar in South Africa, hospital officials monitoring the outbreak say patient reports offer compelling evidence the variant causes illness that is less severe than previous forms of the disease.

“Most of the people we’re seeing are having mild or moderate form of COVID-19, and not the severe form that requires hospitalization and may lead to death,” said Dr. Richard Friedland, the chief executive of Netcare, one of South Africa’s largest private hospital groups, based in Johannesburg.

“Patients present with mild to moderate flu-like symptoms, a scratchy or sore throat, a headache, or a runny or blocked nose,” he said.  

Similar symptoms are being reported nationwide as hospitals monitor patients.

World health authorities caution that the patient information is preliminary, and they say it is not known how omicron will behave as it spreads more widely.

The World Health Organization says the variant has been found in more than 50 countries. Anecdotal information from countries including the United States so far indicates less severe symptoms than exhibited in previous variants, echoing findings in South Africa hospitals.

“We certainly have information from South Africa that many of the patients that are identified with omicron have a milder course of disease, but it does take time for people to go through the full course of their infection,” said Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO’s technical lead for COVID-19.

South Africa’s National Institute for Communicable Diseases reported 20,000 new COVID-19 cases and 36 COVID-19 related deaths Wednesday, the highest numbers since the omicron variant was first detected. 

NetCare’s Dr. Friedland said the company’s hospitals are seeing far fewer admissions, however, than in the nation’s earlier phases of COVID-19 and most patients are not suffering enough to need oxygen.

“Ninety percent of the patients we have in the hospital now need no oxygen at all,” he said. “They’re on room air. All they have is mild upper respiratory tract infections.

“So, it’s a very, very different clinical picture,” he said. “That contrasts to 100% of patients that we admitted during the first, the second and the third wave, who were very sick, and all required oxygen therapy.”

Most omicron-positive people in NetCare’s hospitals are what Friedland called “incidental” COVID-19 patients, who come to the hospital because of other emergencies, or to have a surgical procedure, and are subsequently diagnosed with coronavirus.

Roughly 75% of people in NetCare hospitals diagnosed with COVID-19 are unvaccinated, Dr. Friedland said. He added that patient admission data appears to be “clear evidence” that current vaccines offer some protection against omicron.

Some 36% of South Africans are fully vaccinated and the government is strongly urging citizens to get the shots.

Some information in this report came from Reuters. 
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South Africa recorded more than 20,000 new coronavirus cases Wednesday, nearly double the number from one week earlier. The government is making a renewed push for people to get vaccinated, but so far is avoiding new lockdown measures, in an effort to protect the economy.

Coronavirus cases are rising dramatically in South Africa with over 113,000 people currently infected.

Experts say the omicron variant discovered in South Africa last month is most likely driving the latest wave.

But Minister in the Presidency Mondli Gungubele told reporters today that the government is trying to avoid stricter lockdown measures.

“The damage the restrictions caused last year, level five and so on, thousands of business that stopped and the number of jobs that have been lost. The attitude the government is adopting is find the best possible way of navigating whilst ensuring that… the economy moves,” said Gungubele.

The South African government is championing vaccinations in order to protect more people from severe illness.

The efforts appear to be working, with more than 133,000 people receiving a shot Wednesday. It means 43 percent of adults have at least had one dose.

Gungubele said vaccinations are key to protecting lives as the government tries to protect both public health and the economy.

“You need to find a balance between the livelihood and lives, because these are two side of the same coin and that coin is life. When one of them collapse, the life collapse,” said Gungubele.

Still, hospitalizations are increasing, with over 300 people admitted Wednesday. 

Minister Gungubele said the government is closely monitoring admissions to ensure facilities don’t end up overwhelmed. “So far the reports we’re getting is that there is no red flag in that.”

Thirty-six people died Wednesday of the coronavirus, bringing the country’s total death toll to over 90,000.

South African health officials are expected to release more information on their findings about the current wave and the omicron variant on Friday.
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Pakistan has detected its first case of the omicron variant of the coronavirus.

Official said Thursday the infection was found in a 57-year-old unvaccinated woman in Karachi, the country’s largest city and capital of the southern Sindh province.

Local media reported the patient, who was isolating at home after being discharged from the hospital a day earlier, did not have a travel history and contact tracing was under way.

“We have not yet concluded the genomic study of the patient’s sample but the way the virus is behaving, it seems like it is omicron,” provincial Health Minister Azra Fazal Pechuno said in a video statement.

 

Pechuno said people need not panic and urged them to get fully vaccinated against the coronavirus.

“Omicron is highly transmissible, but deaths or serious illnesses have not been seen in reports from South Africa,” where the variant was first detected, she added.

Late last month, Pakistan placed a complete ban on travel from six African countries, including South Africa, Lesotho, Eswatini — formerly known as Swaziland, Mozambique, Botswana and Namibia, and Hong Kong after the discovery of omicron.

Authorities later extended the ban to nine more countries, including Croatia, Hungary, Netherlands, Ukraine, Ireland, Slovenia, Vietnam, Poland and Zimbabwe, and tightened monitoring of passengers arriving from several other nations.

Pakistan, a country of about 220 million people, has reported close to 1.3 million coronavirus cases, including more than 28,800 deaths.

As of Thursday, officials said more than 24% of the total population and 35% of the eligible population had been vaccinated against the pandemic.

 

 
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New Zealand’s government believes it has come up with a unique plan to end tobacco smoking — a lifetime ban for those 14 or younger.

Under a new law the government announced Thursday and plans to pass next year, the minimum age to buy cigarettes would keep rising year after year.

That means, in theory at least, 65 years after the law takes effect, shoppers could still buy cigarettes — but only if they could prove they were at least 80 years old.

In practice, officials hope smoking will fade away decades before then. Indeed, the plan sets a goal of having fewer than 5% of New Zealanders smoking by 2025.

Other parts of the plan include allowing only the sale of tobacco products with very low nicotine levels and slashing the number of stores that can sell them. The changes would be brought in over time to help retailers adjust.

Because the current minimum age to buy cigarettes in New Zealand is 18, the lifetime smoking ban for youth wouldn’t have an impact for a few years.

In an interview with The Associated Press, New Zealand’s Associate Health Minister Dr. Ayesha Verrall, who is spearheading the plan, said her work at a public hospital in Wellington involved telling several smokers they had developed cancer.

“You meet, every day, someone facing the misery caused by tobacco,” Verrall said. ”The most horrible ways people die. Being short of breath, caused by tobacco.”

Smoking rates have steadily fallen in New Zealand for years, with only about 11% of adults now smoking and 9% smoking every day. The daily rate among Indigenous Maori remains much higher at 22%. Under the government’s plan, a task force would be created to help reduce smoking among Maori.

Big tax increases have already been imposed on cigarettes in recent years and some question why they aren’t hiked even higher.

 

“We don’t think tax increases will have any further impact,” Verrall said. “It’s really hard to quit and we feel if we did that, we’d be punishing those people who are addicted to cigarettes even more.”

And she said the tax measures tend to place a higher burden on lower-income people, who are more likely to smoke.

The new law wouldn’t impact vaping. Verrall said that tobacco smoking is far more harmful and remains a leading cause of preventable deaths in New Zealand, killing up to 5,000 people each year.

“We think vaping’s a really appropriate quit tool,” she said.

The sale of vaping products is already restricted to those 18 and over in New Zealand and vaping is banned in schools. Verrall said there was some evidence of a rise in youth vaping, a trend she is following “really closely.”

New Zealand’s approach to ban the next generation from tobacco smoking hasn’t been tried elsewhere, she said.

But she said studies have shown youth sales decrease when minimum ages are raised. In the U.S., the federal minimum age to buy tobacco products was raised from 18 to 21 two years ago.

While public health experts have generally welcomed the New Zealand plan, not everybody is happy.

Sunny Kaushal said some stores could be put out of business. Kaushal chairs the Dairy and Business Owners Group, which represents nearly 5,000 corner stores — often called dairies in New Zealand — and gas stations.

“We all want a smoke-free New Zealand,” he said. “But this is going to hugely impact small businesses. It should not be done so it is destroying dairies, lives and families in the process. It’s not the way.”

Kaushal said the tax increases on tobacco had already created a black market that was being exploited by gangs, and the problem would only get worse. He said smoking was already in its twilight in New Zealand and would die away of its own accord.

“This is being driven by academics,” he said, adding that stakeholders hadn’t been consulted.

But Verrall said she didn’t believe the government was overreaching because statistics showed the vast majority of smokers wanted to quit anyway, and the new policies would only help them achieve their goal.

She said the pandemic had helped people gain a new appreciation for the benefits of public health measures and rallying communities, and that perhaps that energy could be harnessed not only to tackle smoking but also diseases like diabetes.

 
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U.S. health authorities on Wednesday authorized the use of synthetic antibodies developed by AstraZeneca to prevent COVID-19 infections in people who react badly to vaccines.

It was the first time the Food and Drug Administration has given emergency authorization for such a purely preventative treatment.

The FDA warned the drug Evusheld is “not a substitute for vaccination in individuals for whom COVID-19 vaccination is recommended” and can only be authorized for people with weakened immune systems or those who cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons, such a strong allergic reaction.

In those cases, the drug can be administered to people 12 and older.

Evusheld combines two types of synthetic antibodies (tixagevimab and cilgavimab), and is given as two intramuscular injections, one right after the other. These antibodies help the immune system fight off the virus by targeting its spike protein, which allows it to enter cells and infect them.

The FDA said that the treatment “may be effective for pre-exposure prevention for six months.”

It cannot be administered to someone who is already infected with the virus, the FDA said, although AstraZeneca is testing it for such treatment.

Side effects may include an allergic reaction, bleeding from the injection site, headache, and fatigue.

The FDA authorization was based on a clinical trial carried out on unvaccinated people older than 59, or with a chronic disease, or at high risk of infection.

The drug was given to 3,500 people while 1,700 received a placebo. The trial showed that the treatment cut the risk of developing COVID-19 by 77%.

Two cocktails of antibodies, made by Regeneron and Eli Lilly, are currently authorized for prevention of infection in the United States, but only in people who have been exposed to the virus shortly before, or who have a strong chance of being exposed, such as employees of retirement homes or prisons.

In addition to being immunocompromised or unvaccinated, these people must also be at high risk of developing a severe case of the disease. 
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The Senate narrowly approved a resolution Wednesday to nullify the Biden administration’s requirement that businesses with 100 or more workers have their employees be vaccinated against the coronavirus or submit to weekly testing.

The vote was 52-48. The measure now goes to the Democratic-led House, which is unlikely to take up the measure, which means the mandate would stand, though courts have put it on hold for now. Still, the vote gave senators a chance to voice opposition to a policy that they say has sparked fears back home from businesses and from unvaccinated constituents who worry about losing their jobs should the rule go into effect.

“Every so often Washington, D.C., does something that lights up the phone lines. This is one of these moments,” said Sen. Steve Daines, a Montana Republican. At home, he said, “this issue is what I hear about. This issue is a top-of-mind issue.”

Lawmakers can invalidate certain federal agency regulations if a joint resolution is approved by both houses of Congress and signed by the president, or if Congress overrides a presidential veto. That’s unlikely to happen in this case.

Under the rule, private-sector companies with 100 or more workers must require their employees to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or be tested for the virus weekly and wear masks on the job. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration said it would work with companies on compliance but would fine them up to more than $13,000 for each violation, though implementation and enforcement is suspended as the litigation unfolds.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Americans who have refused to get vaccinated are the biggest impediment to ending the pandemic. He implied that some of the resistance to mandated vaccines is based on politics.

Schumer said social media has played a role in spreading falsehoods about the vaccine, and “so has the far right.” He urged senators to vote against the resolution, sponsored by Sen. Mike Braun, R-Ind.

Republicans said they are supportive of the vaccine, but that the mandate amounts to government overreach.

“His mandates are under fire in the courts. Main Street job creators are complaining against it, and tonight, the U.S. Senate must send a clear message: back off this bad idea,” Braun said.

In the end, two Democratic lawmakers voted with 50 Republicans to void the mandate, Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Jon Tester of Montana. Manchin had said in a tweet that he does not support any federal vaccine mandate for private businesses. Tester’s office said his opposition is based on conversations with Montana businesses who “expressed deep concerns about the negative effect on their bottom lines and our state’s economy during this fragile recovery period.”

Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., sided with the Biden administration, noting that the pandemic is still raging and that deaths are overwhelmingly among the unvaccinated.

“How on earth does it make sense right now to undercut one of the strongest tools that we have to get people vaccinated and stop this virus?” Murray said. “In what world is that a good idea?” 
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More than 40 people in the U.S. have been found to be infected with the omicron variant so far, and more than three-quarters of them had been vaccinated, the chief of the CDC said Wednesday. But she said nearly all of them were only mildly ill. 

In an interview with The Associated Press, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said the data is very limited and the agency is working on a more detailed analysis of what the new mutant form of the coronavirus might hold for the United States. 

“What we generally know is the more mutations a variant has, the higher level you need your immunity to be. … We want to make sure we bolster everybody’s immunity. And that’s really what motivated the decision to expand our guidance,” Walensky said, referencing the recent approval of boosters for all adults.

She said “the disease is mild” in almost all of the cases seen so far, with reported symptoms mainly cough, congestion and fatigue. One person was hospitalized, but no deaths have been reported, CDC officials said. 

Some cases can become increasingly severe as days and weeks pass, and Walensky noted that the data is a very early, first glimpse of U.S. omicron infections. The earliest onset of symptoms of any of the first 40 or so cases was November 15, according to the CDC. 

The omicron variant was first identified in South Africa last month and has since been reported in 57 countries, according to the World Health Organization. 

The first U.S. case was reported on December 1. As of Wednesday afternoon, the CDC had recorded 43 cases in 19 states. Most were young adults. About a third of those patients had traveled internationally. 

More than three-quarters of those patients had been vaccinated, and a third had boosters, Walensky said. Boosters take about two weeks to reach full effect, and some of the patients had received their most recent shot within that period, CDC officials said. 

Fewer than 1% of the U.S. COVID-19 cases genetically sequenced last week were the omicron variant; the delta variant accounted for more than 99%. 

Scientists are trying to better understand how easily it spreads. British officials said Wednesday that they think the omicron variant could become the dominant version of the coronavirus in the United Kingdom in as soon as a month. 

The CDC has yet to make any projections on how the variant could affect the course of the pandemic in the U.S. Walensky said officials are gathering data, but many factors could influence how the pandemic evolves. 

“When I look to what the future holds, so much of that is definitely about the science, but it’s also about coming together as a community to do things that prevent disease in yourself and one another. And I think a lot of what our future holds depends on how we come together to do that,” she said. 

The CDC is also trying to establish whether the omicron variant causes milder — or more severe — illness than other coronavirus types. The finding that nearly all of the cases so far are mild may be a reflection that this first look at U.S. omicron cases captured mainly vaccinated people, who are expected to have milder illnesses, CDC officials said. 

Another key question is whether it is better at evading vaccines or the immunity people build from a bout with COVID-19. 

This week, scientists in South Africa reported a small laboratory study that found antibodies created by vaccines were not as effective at preventing omicron infections as they were at stopping other versions of the coronavirus. 

On Wednesday, vaccine manufacturer Pfizer said that while two doses may not be protective enough to prevent infection, lab tests showed a booster increased levels of virus-fighting antibodies by 25-fold. 

Blood samples taken a month after a booster showed people harbored levels of omicron-neutralizing antibodies that were similar to amounts proven protective against earlier variants after two doses, the company said. 

 
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The World Health Organization says new data is emerging every day about the potential impact of the new omicron variant on the coronavirus pandemic, but that it is premature to draw conclusions about the severity of the infection.

Since omicron was detected two weeks ago in South Africa, it has spread rapidly to 57 countries. The World Health Organization says certain features of the new coronavirus variant, including its global speed and large number of mutations, suggest it could have a major impact on the evolution of the pandemic. 

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus says omicron appears to be extremely contagious, with cases in South Africa rising more quickly than the delta variant. That indicates an increased risk of re-infection with omicron, he says, but adds that more data is needed to draw firmer conclusions. 

“There is also some evidence that omicron causes milder diseases than delta,” he said. “But again, it is still too early to be definitive. Any complacency now will cost lives. Many of those who do not die could be left battling long COVID or post-COVID condition.” 

Tedros says governments and individuals must act now and use all the tools available. He says all governments should re-assess and revise their national plans based on their current situation and capacity. 

“Accelerate vaccine coverage in the most at-risk populations in all countries, intensify efforts to drive transmission down and keep it down with a tailored mix of public health measures,” he said. “Scale up surveillance, testing, and sequencing and share samples with the international community.” 

The WHO chief is urging nations to avoid what he calls the kind of ineffective and discriminatory travel bans that were slapped on southern African countries days after they reported the presence of the omicron variant. 

New evidence, however, reveals that omicron was present in western Europe before the first cases in southern Africa were officially identified. 

The WHO is warning that governments are likely to withhold important scientific information if they believe they will be punished for being transparent.

The message may be getting through. Tedros notes that France and Switzerland have lifted their travel bans on southern Africa. He is urging other countries to follow their lead. 

 
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U.S. President Joe Biden signed an executive order Wednesday to “leverage” the federal government’s scale and purchasing power to make it carbon neutral, cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 65% in less than a decade and establish an all-electric fleet of vehicles.

The order will cut emissions in federal operations as part of the government’s effort to combat climate change.

Biden’s directive requires that government buildings consume 100% carbon pollution-free electricity by 2030, the U.S. fleet of vehicles be 100% electric by 2035, and federal contracts for goods and services be carbon-free by 2050.

“The United States government will lead by example to provide a strong foundation for American businesses to compete and win globally in the clean energy economy while creating well-paying union jobs at home,” the White House said in a statement announcing the climate change initiative.

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press.
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