A person waits in a queue for a coronaviruses disease (COVID-19) test in Times Square as the Omicron coronaviruses variant continues to spread in Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
New York City is experiencing a rapid surge of omicron infections, but Mayor Bill de Blasio expects the wave to peak in a matter of weeks.
It is going to be very difficult in the next few weeks. The good news is based on what our healthcare leadership knows at this moment, and we are talking about a matter of weeks.
The data on the health department website shows that the average daily case counts in New York City more than doubled. The seven-day average in New York was 7,200 cases per day, up from 3,200 the week before.
There are many unanswered questions about how sick people can become after contracting the variant, but de Blasio said people in New York are experiencing mild symptoms so far.
A lot of New Yorkers will be affected by omicron, according to De Blasio. The cases are more mild than we have experienced before.
Even if omicron proves to be more mild than the Delta variant, it could still cause a spike in hospitalizations and deaths because it spreads so fast.
The importance of vaccinations was emphasized by De Blasio. The mayor said his vaccine mandate for private businesses is key to avoiding the shutdowns that devastated New York City's economy in 2020.
De Blasio said that they have to defeat Omicron, avoid shutdowns, and keep moving forward. Almost 80% of New York City residents have received at least one dose of a vaccine, while only 29% have been fully protected.
The private sector and the White House are working together to address a shortage of at- home testing kits. The mayor said the city will open 23 additional testing sites this week for a total of 112 city-run locations.
De Blasio said that the supplies are becoming a challenge because of the sudden increase in testing.
The World Health Organization said that omicron is more infectious than any other variant of Covid-19. The director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said last week that omicron was a factor in over a dozen cases in New York and New Jersey. According to the CDC, Omicron accounted for 3% of U.S. Covid cases.
The power of two-dose vaccines has been weakened by Omicron, but a booster shot increases protection against the variant. A real-world study from the U.K. Health Security Agency shows that a third shot of Pfizer and BioNTech's vaccine provides 70% protection against disease.
The original two-dose vaccine series provides 70% protection against hospitalization, but only 33% against infections, according to real-world data from South Africa's largest health insurer.
