The US is facing a double coronavirus surge with the advance of Omicron

The new Omicron coronavirus mutant racing around the world could bring another wave of chaos, further straining hospital workers already grappling with a spate of Delta cases, and vacation plans for the second year in a row turn it upside down.

The White House today insisted that a lockdown is not required as vaccines are widely available and appear to offer protection against the worst effects of the virus. But even if Omicron proves to be more lenient than Delta overall, it could disarm some of the life-saving tools available, putting the immunocompromised and the elderly at particular risk if it begins a rapid attack on the United States.

“Our delta rise continues and is even accelerating. And on top of that, we’re going to add an omicron rise, ”said Dr. Jacob Lemieux, who oversees variants for a research collaboration led by Harvard Medical School.

“This is alarming because our hospitals are already filling up. Staff are fatigued, which leaves limited capacity for the potential annihilation of COVID-19 cases by an omicron wave superimposed on a delta surge.

Most likely, he and other experts said at a news conference Tuesday, an omicron surge is already underway in the United States, with the latest mutant coronavirus outpacing the nation’s ability to track it.

Based on samples collected last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Omicron accounted for about 3% of genetically sequenced coronaviruses nationwide. The percentages vary by region, with the highest value – 13% – in the New York / New Jersey region.

However, Harvard experts said these were likely underestimates, given that Omicron is moving so fast that surveillance attempts cannot keep up.

Globally, more than 75 countries have reported confirmed cases of Omicron. In the United States, 36 states have discovered the variant. Meanwhile, the delta is growing in many places, with hot spots in New England and the upper Midwest. The five states with the highest two-week moving average of cases per 100,000 population are New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Michigan, Minnesota, and Vermont.

Universities abruptly close classrooms during graduation week as infections multiply quickly. The NBA is postponing games and the NFL had its worst two-day outbreak since the pandemic began, with dozens of players infected.

Outside the US, the President of the European Union said that in a month’s time, Omicron will be the dominant variant, stating that “this Christmas will once again be overshadowed by the pandemic”.

Scientists around the world are striving to understand the omicron, which has a large number of worrying mutations in key regions of its genetic structure that could affect how well it spreads from person to person. How quickly the number of cases doubles, the so-called “doubling time”, can give an outlook on how high the disease burden could be in a few weeks.

CDC director Rochelle Walensky said today that early data suggests Omicron is more transmissible than Delta, with a doubling time of about two days.

In the UK, where Omicron cases double every two to three days, the variant is expected to soon replace Delta as the dominant strain in the country.

“The data from the UK are pretty alarming right now,” said Bronwyn MacInnis, director of pathogen genome monitoring at MIT and Harvard’s Broad Institute. For example, Omicron is the most common variant in London on Tuesday afternoon.

Omicron remains a mystery in many ways. There is evidence from South Africa, where it was first reported, that it can cause a less serious disease than Delta, but is better at bypassing vaccines.

But MacInnis warned, “We know a lot more than we do about this variant, including its severity.”

At the same time, according to Lemieux, there seem to be fewer resources to combat it. Some monoclonal antibody treatments don’t work as well against Omicron in lab tests, Lemieux said. Vaccines seem to offer less protection, though CDC officials said booster vaccinations increase that protection.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious disease expert, said today that there is currently no need for an omicron-specific booster vaccination. The two-dose mRNA vaccines, the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, still appear to offer significant protection against hospitalization by Omicron, Fauci said.

“If we didn’t have these tools, I would tell you that you should really, really worry,” said Fauci.

White House coronavirus response coordinator Jeff Zients said the US has the tools to fight the virus, including Omicron, and “there is no need to lock yourself down”. With vaccines now available to 95% of Americans, “we know how to keep our children in schools and our businesses open. And we’re not going to close down. “

Health officials urged Americans to get vaccinated, get their booster vaccinations, wear masks indoors, and get tested before travel and holiday gatherings.

“Hospital capacity is already at a breaking point in many states due to severe cases of COVID-19,” Michael Fraser, CEO of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, said in a statement.

Given the high transfer rate, MacInnis said there will undoubtedly be severe cases.

“No matter how badly it affects healthy, fully vaccinated and refreshed populations, it will hit the weakest among us hardest,” she said. “So the elderly, immunocompromised and other vulnerable populations will still be most at risk and still bear the brunt of it.”