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“But that would only be the case if we don’t get another variant that eludes the immune response to the prior variant,” Fauci told the Davos Agenda, a virtual event this week held by the World Economic Forum.
“We were fortunate” that Omicron did not share some of the same characteristics as Delta, Fauci said. “But the sheer volume of people who are getting infected overrides that rather less level of pathogenicity.”
“It is an open question as to whether or not Omicron is going to be the live virus vaccination that everyone is hoping for because you have such a great deal of variability with new variants emerging,” he said.
And it doesn’t mean the battle against Covid-19 is over — especially as overwhelmed hospitals delay elective surgeries and schools switch to remote learning.
And an average of 1,695 Americans died from Covid-19 every day over the past week, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
Schools grapple with the Omicron surge
In Texas, all schools and offices in the Houston Independent School District will be closed Tuesday due to rising cases in the community, the school district announced on its website. Classes are expected to resume Wednesday.
The school district encouraged students and staff to take “this extra day to mitigate potential exposure.”
Meantime, a mandate to wear masks in schools is under fire in Virginia.
Several districts in the Northern Virginia and metro Richmond area announced they will reject the latest order, set to begin January 24.
“Our layered prevention strategies have proven effective in keeping transmission rates low in our schools,” said Fairfax County Public Schools Superintendent Scott Brabrand in a letter to the school community.
“Universal mask use has proven effective in keeping Covid-19 transmission rates low in our schools and ensuring schools remain safe and open,” a statement from Arlington Public Schools said about its decision.
Progress on future vaccines moves forward
To further get ahead of variants, new vaccines are under development.
Moderna should have data available on its Omicron-specific Covid-19 vaccine in March, company CEO Stephane Bancel said Monday.
“It should be in the clinic in the coming weeks. And we’re hoping in the March timeframe, we should be able to have data to share with regulators to figure out the next step forward,” he said in a panel conversation at Davos.
A combined Covid-19 and flu booster shot from Moderna could also be available in some countries by fall 2023, Bancel said, but he cautioned the goal date is a “best case scenario.”
Doctors say Covid-19 vaccines and booster doses are the most effective way to ward off severe Covid-19 complications.
Booster doses have successfully demonstrated the ability to raise a person’s antibody levels months after initial inoculations, helping to keep those at higher risk out of the hospital.
In December, Israel started trialing a fourth dose of the coronavirus vaccines for healthy participants ahead of a roll out of the additional booster shot to at-risk populations — marking the first study of its kind among healthy people getting a fourth dose.
“I think that the decision to allow the fourth vaccine to vulnerable populations is probably correct,” Dr. Gili-Regev Yochay, director of Infection Prevention Control Unit at the Sheba Medical Center, said Monday of the data. “It may give a little bit of benefit but probably not enough to support the decision to give it to all of the population, I would say.”
CNN’s Jacqueline Howard, John Bonifield, Virginia Langmaid, Dan Merica, Eva McKend, Ryan Nobles, Livvy Doherty, Carma Hassan and Alex Medeiros contributed to this report.
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