What will happen next with the omicron coronavirus variant? It might become the country’s most dominant COVID-19 strain, according to Dr. Anthony Fauci.
Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told CNN Tuesday that the omicron variant is spreading fast, blazing its way through the United States and countries throughout the world.
- “The real question is, is that an inherent diminution of virulence of the virus or is it because there are so many people in the population who have already been infected and now have residual post-infection immunity — which is not protecting them from getting infected, but is protecting them from getting severe disease?” Fauci said.
Fauci said the U.S. will learn more when omicron makes its way to the United States and starts to spread quickly.
- “Whatever it is, the disease seems to be less severe. Whether it’s inherently less pathogenic as a virus or whether there’s more protection in the community, we’re just going to have to see when it comes in the United States. And for sure … it is going to be dominant in the United States, given its doubling time,” Fauci said.
The omicron variant of the novel coronavirus has been making its way throughout the world, and scientists are only beginning to understand what it can do. The omicron variant can cause less severe COVID-19 symptoms compared to the earlier COVID-19 variant, according to The Washington Post. But the omicron variant could be more resistant to COVID-19 vaccines.
Experts have maintained that getting fully vaccinated and getting a COVID-19 vaccine booster shot can protect people from the omicron variant, as I wrote for the Deseret News.