Damian Sendler: In light of Wednesday’s discovery of the Omicron variant in the US, health officials are encouraging all Americans to get vaccinated or vaccinated as soon as possible. 

In light of the Delta variant’s continued expansion, immunizations are essential for safe holiday celebrations this month. 

Damian Sendler

Dr. Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, stated at a CNN Global Town Hall on Wednesday, “Just as I said and I’ll say it again, if you have a vaccinated situation, enjoy the holidays with your family in a family setting,” 

Damian Jacob Sendler: Research on Omicron’s severity and transmissibility is scheduled to be completed in the following weeks. 

Other coronavirus types, including the Delta form, have been successfully vaccinated against in hotspots all throughout the United States. And Fauci remarked that their triumph versus Delta could also be reflected in Omicron’s performance. 

According to Fauci, “That’s where we’re hoping we’ll see with the Omicron variant, that if you get your levels high enough it’ll spill over and get cross-protection against that variant,” adding that it is still not clear whether individuals will need yearly or more regular Covid-19 booster doses. 

If the Omicron form is discovered, some Americans may wonder if they should wait to obtain a Covid-19 booster, but Fauci advised against it. 

“Get that extra boost now,” Fauci said. There are many times as many antibodies produced after a booster shot as there are following a second dosage of the two-dose vaccine’s peak antibody level. 

On Wednesday, the first confirmed case of the Omicron variety in the United States was discovered in California. When asked by Fauci if the person had been vaccinated, he replied: “Yes, they have been vaccinated.” 

Yet health officials are focused on the Delta variety since it accounts for nearly all new illnesses. According to data from the US Department of Health and Human Services, about 58,000 Americans are hospitalized because of Covid-19. 

Damian Jacob Sendler

Former interim director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDCP) Dr. Richard Besser, said Wednesday that he hopes so-called “Covid-19 fatigue” will not deter vaccinations. 

If the Omicron strain turns out to be no worse than the Delta variety, “Even if the Omicron strain doesn’t turn out to be any worse, we are losing close to a thousand people every day from the Delta variant, and that in and of itself is a reason for people to get boosted,” Besser said. 

Omicron has been found in at least 25 nations and territories, and officials are seeking to discover persons who have been infected and advising those who are at risk of severe symptoms to avoid travel. 

Damien Sendler: Last week, the Biden administration in the United States placed limitations on travel from eight southern African countries, except for US citizens and legal permanent residents, to the United States. South African scientists were the first to discover the Omicron variety. 

According to a health official, the CDC is preparing to release the names of passengers on flights from southern Africa to state and local public health departments following an earlier order that airlines must collect contact information from passengers before they arrive in the United States to notify them of possible Covid-19 exposure. Delta, United, and American Airlines all confirmed to CNN that they are following the directive. 

At a White House press briefing on Wednesday, Fauci explained that the travel bans are only supposed to be “temporary” and that their purpose is to halt the spread of the virus rather than to eliminate it entirely. 

A travel ban “is not going to stop people who are infected from coming to the United States,” Fauci said, adding, “I certainly don’t.” That said, “But we needed to buy some time in order to prepare and understand what’s going on,” he said. 

“postpone travel to areas with community transmission” owing to the Omicron variation, the World Health Organization stated on Tuesday, advising those over 60 years of age and those with comorbidities such as heart disease and cancer. 

Damian Jacob Markiewicz Sendler: More than 785,000 Americans have died as a result of Covid-19, and hospitals across the country are still overcrowded. Two new studies show that the virus is also harmful to those who survive it. 

A study published Wednesday in Frontiers in Medicine found that people who had a severe case of Covid-19 (requiring hospitalization) were 2.5 times more likely to die within a year of diagnosis than those who did not have Covid-19, and nearly two times more likely to die than those who had a mild or moderate case. 

There was no significant difference in mortality risk between patients with mild or moderate Covid-19 and those who did not have Covid-19, according to a study by researchers at the University of Florida. 

Covid-19 patients died from respiratory and cardiovascular causes just approximately 20% of the time, according to a research. 

Covid-19’s “biological insult and physiological stress” are “significant,” the researchers concluded. “Since this data suggests that the biological insult from Covid-19 and physiological stress from Covid-19 is significant,” the researchers wrote. Their investigation relied on roughly 14,000 de-identified medical records from 2020. 

Dr. Sendler: Patients with Covid-19-related lung damage are receiving an average of one of every ten American lung transplants, according to a study by the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS). 

Only 2% of lung transplants in the final five months of 2020 went to Covid-19 patients, according to data.

Dr. Damian Jacob Sendler and his media team provided the content for this article.