Omicron Variant Detected in 11 States, Many Cases Among Vaccinated
From TheEpochTimes.com By December 4, 2021
The Omicron variant of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus has been detected in 11 states so far, with about half of the cases confirmed among vaccinated individuals.
Out of 31 COVID-19 cases caused by the variant detected in America as of Dec. 3, the vaccination status of 22 people is known. Of those, 15 were vaccinated.
Omicron is a new strain that experts say may transmit more easily than earlier variants. There’s also early indications that it can better evade immunity provided by prior infection, and concerns vaccines may not provide as much protection against it.
One of the cases in the United States so far was confirmed to have recovered from COVID-19 and have natural immunity.
Authorities have not disclosed the vaccination status of six people, including seven in New York, one in Pennsylvania, and one in Missouri.
A New York State Health Department spokeswoman told The Epoch Times in an email Saturday the status for the seven is still not available; health departments in Pennsylvania and Missouri did not respond to requests for comment.
Cases caused by the Omicron variant have also been detected in California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maryland, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Jersey, and Utah.
Many of the patients either returned recently from Africa, where the variant was first identified last month, or came into close contact with somebody who had.
“We absolutely have community spread in this country,” Dr. Anthony Fauci, the longtime director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said on Bloomberg TV on Friday. “We don’t know how many of them, but there’s no doubt there’s community spread.”
However, the dominant variant in the country is still Delta, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky told reporters during a virtual briefing around the same time.