With many wondering whether Omicron means we’re approaching the endemic phase of Covid-19, Fauci cautions it’s still too soon to tell – CNN

"When you talk about whether or not Omicron -- because it's a highly transmissible, but apparently not as pathogenic, for example, as Delta -- I would hope that that's the case," the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases said Monday.

"But that would only be the case if we don't get another variant that eludes the immune response to the prior variant," Fauci told the Davos Agenda, a virtual event being held this week by the World Economic Forum.

"We were fortunate" that Omicron did not share some of the same characteristics as Delta, "but the sheer volume of people who are getting infected overrides that rather less level of pathogenicity," Fauci said.

"It is an open question as to whether or not Omicron is going to be the live virus vaccination that everyone is hoping for, because you have such a great deal of variability with new variants emerging," he said.

Schools grappling with Omicron surge

Several districts in the Northern Virginia and metro Richmond area announced they will reject the latest order set to begin January 24.

"Our layered prevention strategies have proven effective in keeping transmission rates low in our schools," said Fairfax County Public Schools Superintendent Scott Brabrand in a letter to the school community.

"Universal mask use has proven effective in keeping Covid-19 transmission rates low in our schools and ensuring schools remain safe and open," a statement from Arlington Public Schools said about its decision.

In Texas, all schools and offices in the Houston Independent School District will be closed Tuesday due to rising cases in the community, the school district announced on its website. Classes are expected to resume Wednesday.

The school district encouraged students and staff to take "this extra day to mitigate potential exposure."

Progress on future vaccines moves forward

To further get ahead of variants, new vaccines are under development.

Moderna should have data available on its Omicron-specific Covid-19 vaccine in March, company CEO Stephane Bancel said Monday.

"It should be in the clinic in the coming weeks. And we're hoping in the March timeframe, we should be able to have data to share with regulators to figure out the next step forward," he said in a panel conversation at Davos.

A combined Covid-19 and flu booster shot from Moderna could also be available in some countries by fall 2023, Bancel said, but cautioned the date was a "best case scenario."

Vaccines doses remain the most effective way to ward off severe complications, which remain a factor in the nation's recovery as Americans continue to die from Covid-19. The average number of deaths has exceeded 1,600 daily over the last week, according to JHU data.

Booster doses have successfully demonstrated the ability to raise an individual's antibody levels months after initial inoculations, helping to keep those at higher risk out of the hospital.

In December, Israel started trialing a fourth dose of the coronavirus vaccines for healthy participants ahead of a roll out of the additional booster shot to at-risk populations -- marking the first study of its kind among healthy people receiving a fourth dose.

"I think that the decision to allow the fourth vaccine to vulnerable populations is probably correct," Dr. Gili-Regev Yochay, director of Infection Prevention Control Unit at the Sheba Medical Center, said Monday of the data. "It may give a little bit of benefit, but probably not enough to support the decision to give it to all of the population, I would say."

See original here:

With many wondering whether Omicron means we're approaching the endemic phase of Covid-19, Fauci cautions it's still too soon to tell - CNN