Omicron concerns should spur millions of unvaccinated Americans to get their Covid shots, experts say
By Aya Elamroussi, CNN
As a new Omicron variant spurs global travel bans, experts said that concerns over its impact should spur the millions of unvaccinated Americans to get their Covid-19 shots — and for those who are eligible to get boosters — as it will offer at least a degree of protection.
“I would hope that within the next week or two weeks, so many of those people will take advantage of the vaccine,” Dr. William Schaffner, a professor at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, told CNN’s Alisyn Camerota on Friday. “That will help us in the immediate term. And I would anticipate that, as bad as Omicron might be, our vaccine still will be partially effective.”
Dr. Anthony Fauci echoed Schaffner’s stance on vaccination and boosters as mitigation tools.
“I’m saying this absolutely clearly that if ever there was a reason for unvaccinated people to get vaccinated and for those who have been vaccinated when your time comes up to go and get a booster shot,” Fauci told NBC News’ Lester Holt on Friday.
“The booster shots give you a very, very important edge,” he said, noting that boosters increase the level of antibodies that protect against the virus.
Data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that 196 million Americans, or 59% of the US population, was fully vaccinated as of Friday. An additional 37.5 million have received booster shots, the data shows.
On Friday, the US moved to restrict travel from eight mostly southern African countries starting Monday as the World Health Organization deemed Omicron a variant of concern after it was first detected in South Africa. Travel into the US is restricted for those entering from Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique, Malawi and South Africa.
Omicron has raised concerns for health officials because there’s a possibility that it could be more contagious than the original coronavirus strain, and it also has a significant number of mutations, the WHO said.
There have been no indications so far that the variant has made its way into the US, Fauci told CNN on Friday.
The CDC said the US variant surveillance system has reliably detected new variants in the past.
“We expect Omicron to be identified quickly, if it emerges in the U.S.,” the agency said in a statement.
After a pandemic that has lasted nearly two years, experts and global leaders are anxious about the impact of Omicron and many nations issued travel bans. Besides South Africa, the newly identified variant has been detected in Botswana, Hong Kong and Belgium.
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control said Friday there was a “high to very high” risk the variant would spread to the Continent.
Vaccine makers are working to determine effectiveness against Omicron
Meanwhile, vaccine makers have disclosed they are taking action to address Omicron’s elevated risk.
Moderna said Friday that it’s working quickly to test the ability of its vaccine to neutralize Omicron, and data is expected in the coming weeks.
The strain includes mutations “seen in the Delta variant that are believed to increase transmissibility and mutations seen in the Beta and Delta variants that are believed to promote immune escape,” Moderna said in a news release.
“The combination of mutations represents a significant potential risk to accelerate the waning of natural and vaccine-induced immunity.”
Moderna explained that if its current vaccine and booster are insufficient against the variant, one possible solution is boosting people with a larger dose, which is undergoing testing.
The company is also evaluating two multivalent booster candidates to see if they provide better protection against Omicron — both of which include some of the viral mutations present in the variant.
Moderna said it is also testing an Omicron-specific booster.
“For several days, we have been moving as fast as possible to execute our strategy to address this variant,” Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel said in the news release.
Scientists at BioNTech, the German company that partnered with Pfizer to make its Covid-19 vaccine, are also investigating the impact of the variant on their shot, with data expected within the upcoming weeks.
A Johnson & Johnson spokesperson told CNN in a statement the company was also testing the effectiveness of its vaccine against Omicron.
Covid-19 travel restrictions aren’t all that effective, experts say
The Biden administration’s decision to curtail travel from eight countries is a precautionary measure as the US government learns more about the Omicron variant of coronavirus.
But some experts say travel restrictions aren’t as effective as they may seem.
“Travel bans are modestly effective. They can obviously influence travel directly from that country to the United States,” said Schaffner, the doctor at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
“But obviously US citizens will be permitted to come back. They could bring the virus. And people could go from the country of interest, South Africa for example, and go to other countries that are not on the travel ban, and enter, if you will, by the side door. So travel bans are somewhat effective, but let’s not expect a miracle,” he said.
US citizens, lawful permanent residents and noncitizens who are the spouses of citizens or permanent residents are exempted from the new restrictions.
Dr. Megan Ranney, a professor of emergency medicine and Associate Dean of Public Health at Brown University, said universal vaccination requirements for all air travel would be more effective.
“Or having quarantines when people arrive in the U.S. from other countries. Neither of those are particularly politically palatable right now, but they would make a much bigger difference in the spread of this variant,” Ranney told CNN’s Jim Acosta on Friday.
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CNN’s Jacqueline Howard, Virginia Langmaid, Michael Nedelman, Frederik Pleitgen and Kaitlan Collins contributed to this report.
