WASHINGTON (TND) — Officials across the U.S. are telling Americans to remain calm, but as more states report cases of the omicron variant, the uncertainty is growing.
Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease professor at Vanderbilt University joined The National Desk’s Megan O’Halloran Thursday night to provide more information on why this variant in particular is getting so much attention and what things will look like going forward.
Right now, the medical community as a whole is saying omicron is cause for "concern," but not "panic." Schaffner explains that health officials are taking this approach as they wait for the research to come out.
“We don’t know everything we would like to know about this variant,” Schaffner said. “Can it outrun delta for example, and begin to take over? We’d also like to know how serious the illnesses that illness is that it produces. There are hints — just hints, these are not data — that it may produce less serious disease. I would welcome that.”
He says the information will be coming out on a daily basis and anyone who wants to stay informed will be able to.
“You'll have to do your homework to keep up. The laboratory will be working on trying to find out some of these things from the point of view of the virus, and my public health colleagues out there in the world, doing studies in populations to see how contagious [it is] and how effective the vaccine is,” Schaffner said.
Don’t worry — he says that although scientists don’t have all of the answers yet, people should keep operating as we are — even heading into the holidays. He simply advises everyone to be cautious and conscious of the risk.
“I think at the moment, keep your plans, but let's do things carefully. We can have fun safely. For example, if you're going to travel, or even if you’re not, let's all get vaccinated. If you need a booster, get that booster. If you get together with people, wear that mask until you’re sure they’re not infected,” he said.
Many Americans are feeling fatigue and wondering if they even want to get a booster. Along with that, many people are questioning how many boosters we may need and how often. Schaffner says it may be time to think about the COVID shot in the same way we think about some other repeat vaccines.
“We get an annual flu shot and that’s very important. There are other vaccines like the tetanus shot we get every 10 years, so we study these schedules to make sure if a booster is recommended, it will be safe,” he said. “Each and every year, we reconstitute vaccines in order to keep up with the virus. So this is something our vaccine scientists know how to do, it’s something we have experience with, and I think this may be something we have to do was COVID right along with flu.”
On the horizon, Schaffner says scientists are working on combining the COVID booster and the flu shot. He suggests it may come down to one easy shot a year.