Top U.S. health officials warned Tuesday that a surge of COVID-19 cases driven by the Omicron sub variant BA.5 has arrived, but stressed that the country has the tools to prevent people from getting seriously ill.
The White House knows how to manage it, according to Dr. It's possible to prevent illness. We can save lives, and we can minimize disruptions.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the BA.5 subvariant is the main cause of COVID-19 cases in the US.
Anthony Fauci is the nation's top infectious disease expert and the chief medical adviser to President Biden.
Fauci said that the current vaccines are still effective at preventing serious COVID-19 outcomes such as hospitalization and death.
He said the threat to you was now. You're putting yourself at an increased risk if you don't get vaccinations.
As the U.S. transitions into a new phase of the Pandemic, Fauci and other top COVID officials warned Tuesday.
The age of reinfection is called that.
The myth that the virus will evolve into a milder form and fade away is dead, according to Dr. Eric Topol. There could be more variations in the months ahead with more extensive immune evasion and growth advantage.
COVID-19 seemed to be a one-and-done problem. It's no longer possible. The main culprit is BA.5 because it has a lot of changes that make it better than any of its predecessors at avoiding immune defenses.
Both Delta and the earlier versions of Omicron sidestepped first- generation antibodies when they were evasive. BA.5 and BA.4 are unique because they evolved specifically to evade the massive amount of fresh immunity left behind by the original iteration of Omicron, meaning that the old assumptions about a recent infection completely shielding you from rapid re.
The director of the CDC said at Tuesday's briefing that they know thatBA.5 is more transmissible and immune-evading. Even with BA.1 or BA.2, people are still at risk for BA.4 and BA.5.
This won't make the US back to square one. The national death rate is close to the all-time low, despite elevated case levels, and there are fewer U.S. COVID patients in intensive care units. Multiple rounds of vaccine and acquired immunity are helping.
Boosters for those over 50 and post-infection treatments such as Paxlovid are some of the tools that still work.
The distance between the original SARS- CoV-2 virus and previous blockbuster versions such as Alpha and Delta makes it harder to recognize and respond to. That could be the result of the latest research.
In the U.S., the rise of BA.5 coincides with the decline of earlier versions of Omicron, which appears to have stopped. The majority of infections are not being reported as Americans increasingly rely on rapid home tests. In San Diego County, Calif., there has been a doubling of re infections in the last few weeks. The experts worry that the virus could endanger Americans in the months to come.
According to the CDC, 70% of the U.S. population has received the first two doses of a vaccine. A new booster for BA.5 isn't expected until October at the earliest, and less than half of those eligible have gotten one.
Fauci said it was clear that immunity waned after the vaccine. You don't have good protection against infections with BA.5.
The daily US death toll is still too high despite the fact that it is lower than it was earlier in the Pandemic.
He said that most of the deaths are preventable.
Fauci said that there will beVariants if the virus is in this country. We can't deny that it is a reality that we need to deal with, but we should not allow it to disrupt our lives.
In August, the administration will be releasing two reports on long COVID, followed by a strategy to speed the development of next- generation vaccines that can protect against all coronaviruses, and stop infections before they start.
There will be more from us in the days and weeks to come. We've been working very hard on it.
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