According to new data available from official sources, the new variant Omicron shows signs of a slowdown across the country. The number of hospital admissions is reducing weekly, and there is some stability in the new cases being reported daily.
Several states are doing well in this regard, and it appears that they have crossed the peak of the Omicron wave in recent days. The daily average cases across the US was close to 800000 last week, and it has come down to around 700000 this week. The new hospital admissions have also declined, indicating that the virus might have already peaked in most parts of the country.
Omicron Shows Signs Of Slowdown As Hospitalizations Reduce Across The US
It is interesting to see that a similar trend was seen with Omicron in South Africa. The new variant was first detected in South Africa in November 2021, and it spread across the world within a matter of a few weeks. Omicron became the most dominant variant in the US within no time, and it broke previous records for the number of cases and hospital admissions across the country.
However, the virus showed a drastic decline in South Africa, and it is no longer a big problem in that region. According to experts, the situation in the US is also looking similar, and they are hoping that the wave will subside in the next couple of months.
Some experts believe that variants like Omicron that spread rapidly and cause fewer symptoms often turn the pandemic into an endemic. If this is true, it is good news as it has almost infected millions of people within a short duration of time and showed fewer symptoms. In this way, there is hope that we may finally be able to get the much-required natural immunity against future variants.
Dr. Anthony Fauci said that he hopes the situation is likely to come under control in the next few weeks. Even though the virus may still continue to infect those who are vulnerable in the community, it will be in a small way, and it is not likely to disturb the social activities of the common public. This is a huge relief for many people as there is no risk of a lockdown kind of situation due to the surge of Omicron variants across the country.
However, few experts have warned that Omicron may not be the last variant, and we have to be prepared to handle future mutations in the virus. If the new variants that come in the future invade vaccine immunity completely, we are still at risk of a pandemic situation. However, suppose the Omicron slows down and continues to linger for a long time. In that case, it may give rise to weaker mutations, and it becomes easier to handle the situation with existing vaccines and treatment options.
Experts also say that the chances of new variants emerging are more across the globe as several countries have a very low rate of vaccination. Such vulnerable people give more options for the virus to linger in their bodies and develop into new variants. In this way, the war against Covid can be won only when the entire population across the world is vaccinated at the earliest.
There is no way we can prevent further mutations, and the only thing we can do is to be prepared to handle future variants. More research is needed to understand which variants are likely to emerge shortly so that the vaccine manufacturers can be ready with vaccines for such variants. In this way, researchers can get to follow the new mutations closely and develop new vaccines.
