New Coronavirus cases soared to the highest record levels in the United States in the mid of the Christmas and New Year holiday season. On average, the number surpassed 265000 per day amid the most contagious Omicron variant. In addition, new COVID-19 cases per day have more than doubled during the last two weeks, beating the previous mark of 250000, set in mid-January, according to the statistics of Johns Hopkins University.
Over a year after the rollout of vaccines, new cases of Coronavirus in the United States have climbed to their peak level on record at more than 265,000 per day on average. pic.twitter.com/glCzGmsJYP
— Live News Now (@LiveNewsNow6) December 30, 2021
The fast-spreading variant of the Coronavirus has cast a pall over Christmas and New Year’s, forcing communities to cancel their festivities some weeks after it seemed as if the U.S. nationals were about to enjoy the regular holiday season. Airlines across the world canceled hundreds of thousands of flights amid staffing shortages blamed on the COVID-19. On Wednesday, the top United States infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, said that there is no need to withdraw small home gatherings among immunized and boosted friends and family members.
Fauci backs forty-to-fifty-person New Year’s Eve gatherings to enjoy and celebrate the moments with their beloved ones. The number of Americans in the hospital contracting the virus is running at about sixty thousand or around half the statistics noticed in January, the CDC reported. While COVID-19 hospitalizations sometimes lag behind cases that clearly reveal that vaccine protection is working efficiently.
Per Day Deaths in the U.S. Climbed Once Again
Coronavirus deaths in the United States once again soared over the last two weeks from an average of twelve hundred per day to about fifteen hundred. Public health experts will be closely seeing the rising numbers in the coming week for indications of the effectiveness of vaccines in avoiding hospitalizations and severe illness and reducing strain on exhausted health care workers.
Previously, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggested that the hospitalization rate in unvaccinated people is much higher than vaccinated, even if the effectiveness of the doses decreases over time. Many European countries, including Spain, the United Kingdom, Greece, and France, reported record Coronavirus case counts this week, triggering a ban on music at the celebrations of New Year in Greece.
#COVID19 vaccines are expected to help protect against severe illness, hospitalization, and death due to infection with the Omicron variant.
Get vaccinated against COVID-19 or if you’re fully vaccinated, get your booster when you’re eligible.Learn more: https://t.co/wbu65KILpe.
— CDC (@CDCgov) December 23, 2021
The World Health Organization reported that new global Coronavirus cases increased eleven percent last week from the week before, with around five million recorded from 20th to 26th December. On the other hand, the United Nations health agency noted a fall in the virus cases in South Africa, the orientation place of the Omicron variant.
Johnson & Johnson Booster Slashes Omicron Hospitalizations
South African researchers said that Johnson & Johnson Coronavirus booster shot was eighty-four percent effective at preventing hospitalizations in the country. An initial shot of the J&J vaccine showed less effectiveness against the Omicron infection, spreading quickly through several countries.
Source: Web
However, many studies suggested that the booster shot of the vaccine provides significant protection against hospitalizations from the variant. For example, the latest South African study indicated that the effectiveness of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine at preventing severe illness rose from sixty-three percent shortly after a booster dose was administered to eighty-four percent one week later. Furthermore, the effectiveness reached eighty-five percent at one to two months post-boost.
Read Also: Omicron could Displace Delta – South African Study Suggests
