(San Antonio, TX) — A medical expert claims the COVID Omicron variant is not as dangerous as previous strains, especially in patients who are fully vaccinated and boosted. Dr. Ralph Riviello, who heads emergency medicine at San Antonio’s University Health System, says the vast majority of patients are showing mild symptoms. He says every patient with COVID that’s had a third booster dose was sent home. The only ones who were hospitalized were those who have not received the COVID shot.
Fauci agrees: Dr. Fauci Discusses Omicron Severity
(Washington, DC) — The nation’s leading infectious disease expert says boosters are essential to bringing up the level of protection when it comes to combating the Omicron variant.
Dr. Anthony Fauci said numbers from South Africa show Omicron cases result in fewer hospitalizations and fewer people needing to be put in ICU units. Fauci said the number of cases compared to the number of hospitalizations in the U.S. show a big difference and it suggests there will be a lower hospitalization rate from Omicron throughout the country. He added the level of severity of Omicron in children has not been determined, but more kids are catching COVID while in hospitals because of how transmissible the variant is. Fauci concluded the numbers are encouraging and all signs point to Omicron being less in severity across the board versus Delta.
However, Fauci said the data is still coming in on how protective the third booster shot is and he’s hoping three shots will be enough to protect individuals against coronavirus. He added if future variants continue to be milder, the U.S. could move to a time when the virus is something we live with and it would no longer disrupt the country and economy. Fauci said domestic air travel is safe enough with the mask mandates on airlines, but did not rule out a vaccine mandate for flying in the U.S..
Dr. Anthony Fauci said numbers from South Africa show Omicron cases result in fewer hospitalizations and fewer people needing to be put in ICU units. Fauci said the number of cases compared to the number of hospitalizations in the U.S. show a big difference and it suggests there will be a lower hospitalization rate from Omicron throughout the country. He added the level of severity of Omicron in children has not been determined, but more kids are catching COVID while in hospitals because of how transmissible the variant is. Fauci concluded the numbers are encouraging and all signs point to Omicron being less in severity across the board versus Delta.