Anthony Fauci, the White House chief medical adviser and the nation's top infectious disease expert, said that he doesn't think there's a chance of a US outbreak of the Omicron variant.
Fauci said on ABC's "This Week" that he doesn't think that will happen in the future. 50 million people in the country are eligible to be vaccine free, but they are not.
Fauci warned that a rise in cases would lead to more hospitalizations.
He said that the hospital system and healthcare workers will be stressed out because of the Omicron virus.
This Week is on December 19, 2021.
Fauci said that the fast-spreading variant is "raging through the world." The variant has spread to over 80 countries according to the World Health Organization.
The first case of Omicron was found in the US on December 1. CNN reported on Sunday that the variant has been found in at least 45 states. There were a record number of positive COVID-19 cases in New York on Friday.
According to the CDC, the Omicron variant of the vaccine is expected to protect against severe illness, hospitalizations, and deaths. The agency expects that people with the variant can spread the virus to others even if they don't have symptoms.
The agency said that Delta remains the main variant in the US and that vaccines have remained effective at preventing illness. The recent emergence of Omicron emphasizes the importance of vaccinations.
Get overheated now. The former chief of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Friday that a wave of Omicron was likely to come to a hospital near him.
President Joe Biden said last week that unvaccinated people are most at risk this winter.
We are looking at a winter of severe illness and death for the unvaccinated for themselves, their families and the hospitals they'll soon overwhelm. Biden said during a COVID-19 briefing on Thursday that if you have a booster shot, you're protected from serious illness and death.
The president is going to address the country on Tuesday about how the administration will tackle the rise in COVID-19 cases and issue a "stark warning" to unvaccinated people.
