U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday reported the first known death from the omicron variant after saying the country faces a “tidal wave” of omicron cases.
The news comes after Johnson said Sunday he was opening booster shots to all adults. “I’m afraid it is now clear that two doses of vaccine are simply not enough to give the level of protection we all need,” Johnson said in an address to the U.K. announcing a new timeline for the country’s booster rollout.
With the spread of the omicron variant looming, Dr. Anthony Fauci on Sunday told ABC News that preliminary data about omicron show the variant can “evade” some of the protection that vaccines offer but a booster dose “raises the level of protection high enough that it then does do well against the omicron.”
“If you want to be optimally protected, absolutely get a booster,” Fauci added.
When asked whether yearly boosters will be required, Fauci said he hoped the current boosters would increase the durability of protection beyond six months but that it remains unclear for how long they will offer protection. If another dose is necessary, “then we’ll just have to deal with it when that occurs,” Fauci said.
Monday also marks the one year anniversary of the first shipments of COVID-19 vaccine rolling out of Pfizer’s production facilities and heading toward hospitals around the country to launch U.S. vaccination efforts.
More than 239 million people have since received at least one dose and 60.8% of Americans are fully vaccinated since the rollout of vaccines, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data. However, only 26% of the population has received a booster dose.
Also in the news:
►Omicron was newly reported in North Carolina and Ohio. The CDC says the new variant has now been detected in 27 states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin.
►South African President Cyril Ramaphosa is receiving treatment for mild COVID-19 symptoms after testing positive for the disease Sunday, his office said.
📈 Today’s numbers: The U.S. has recorded more than 49.9 million confirmed COVID-19 cases and more than 797,300 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data. Global totals: More than 270 million cases and 5.3 million deaths. More than 201.9 million Americans — 60.8% of the population — are fully vaccinated, according to the CDC.
📘 What we’re reading: A year ago, trucks rolled out of Pfizer’s Portage, Michigan, plant carrying the first doses of COVID-19 vaccine to be delivered in the U.S. For many who work in the field of immunology and infectious diseases, the realization that humanity had a chance against the virus was surreal.
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Study: Young people recover quickly from rare COVID-19 vaccine side effect
Some young people ages 21 and younger who developed a form of heart inflammation suspected to have come from the COVID-19 vaccine tend to have mild conditions and recover quickly, according to new research described by officials from Intermountain Healthcare last week.
The new study, published in the American Heart Association’s journal “Circulation,” compared data and medical records from patients at 26 pediatric medical centers across the U.S., including in Utah, and found that one in five patients were admitted to intensive care units, largely with the same symptoms, but none had died and most were released after two or three days.
“As the COVID vaccine came out worldwide, early on we started to hear reports in the spring of cases of heart inflammation or myocarditis,” said Dr. Dongngan T. Truong, associate professor of pediatrics in the division of cardiology at the University of Utah Health and a pediatric cardiologist at Intermountain Primary Children’s Hospital, in a news conference about the study.
The majority of patients, more than 90%, were male, and nearly every case was diagnosed after the patient had received an mRNA vaccine. Chest pain was the most common symptom, found in more than 99% of patients, while about a third of patients also experienced fever or shortness of breath.
“Recovery in the hospital was quite short with minimal medication to treat the myocarditis,” Truong said.
— Elle Cabrera, St. George Spectrum & Daily News
New York mandates masks indoors unless businesses require vaccine for entry
Gov. Kathy Hochul last week announced masks will be required to be worn in all indoor public places in New York unless businesses or venues implement a vaccine requirement for entry.
The new mask and vaccine mandates come as COVID-19 cases spiked statewide more than 43% since Thanksgiving, straining the health care system amid staffing shortages, according to the governor’s office.
The new mask requirements extend to both patrons and staff. The measure takes effect Monday and will remain in place until Jan. 15, after which the state will re-evaluate based on current conditions.
The mandates aim to curb COVID-19 outbreaks during the holidays when more time is spent shopping and gathering indoors, where the virus can spread more easily, Hochul said in a statement.
— David Robinson, USA TODAY Network New York
Contributing: The Associated Press
