Posted on 03/27/22
| News Source: WTOP
Though coronavirus caseloads, deaths and hospitalizations are declining in the U.S., the nation’s top infectious disease expert is urging Americans to get vaccinated and boosted as a new variant has cases rising across Europe.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, President Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser, said the uptick in cases across the UK and Europe can be attributed to the increased transmissibility of the descendant of omicron known as BA.2; the removal of restrictions such as indoor masking, and waning immunity from vaccines and prior coronavirus infection.
“We can probably expect in this country that, given that we have those three conditions … we can expect to start to see, I would imagine in the next week or so, an increase in cases in some regions of the country, particularly those areas that are undervaccinated,” Fauci said.
Because BA.2 is more transmissible, it will eventually overtake the original omicron strain as the dominant variant in the U.S., he said.
The new strain makes up between 30 to 45% of new infections in the U.S., Fauci said, and is up to 50% in some cities.
Patrick Ashley, with DC Health, said on a call with council members Friday that BA.2 makes up 29% of new cases in D.C.
Despite its increased transmissibility, Fauci said, there’s no indication that BA.2 causes more severe disease. European officials, he said, haven’t seen an increase in hospitalizations or use of intensive care unit beds.