Hospitalizations for Covid have doubled recently, and US health authorities reaffirmed the need for immunization awareness on Tuesday to combat the pandemic, even though it is unknown whether the shots will protect against new Omicron subvariants.
According to Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Rochelle Walensky, the number of hospital admissions linked to the coronavirus in the United States is currently about 5,100 per day, or “a doubling of hospital admissions since early May.”
The emergence of the Omicron variant’s BA.4 and BA.5 sublineages, which were discovered for the first time in April and which, respectively, account for 16 and 65 percent of the virus presently circulating in the United States, is connected to the increase.
Although they don’t seem to be more harmful than earlier variants, “we do know it to be more transmissible and more immune-evading,” Walensky said. However, she added that the effectiveness of vaccination and booster shots against serious illness and death is probably still very high with the new variants.
Therefore, maintaining current Covid-19 vaccinations is the best defence against serious consequences, she explained.
Despite the increase in instances, Anthony Fauci, chief medical advisor to President Joe Biden, said during the briefing that the new varieties shouldn’t be allowed to spread fear or “disrupt our lives.”
Although daily tolls have significantly decreased since the crisis’ height more over a year ago, the United States is still recording 300 to 350 fatalities daily, which Fauci called “unacceptable.”
Between 100,000 and 150,000 new instances are recorded daily in the nation, but the number may be significantly understated because more people are turning to home Covid tests, the results of which are frequently withheld from law enforcement.
