Fears are growing that the US could soon experience the same ‘tidal wave’ of the COVID Omicron variant currently engulfing the UK, with just 16 per cent of Americans so-far receiving a booster that could protect against it.
Omicron cases tripled over the weekend, from 43 across 22 US states on Saturday to 153 cases in 30 states on Monday, according to Centers for Disease Control data. The true total is likely significantly higher, with the UK’s status as a world leader in virus-sequencing enabling its government to get a better hold on the scale of the Omicron outbreak.
On Monday, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the UK had seen its first Omicron death. Dr Anthony Fauci says preliminary data suggests the strain is less deadly than Delta, but also cautioned that it is too early to say for sure.
And while US numbers remain miniscule, total Covid cases have risen by 43% in the last fortnight, fueled mainly by the Delta variant. There are now fears Omicron could lead to a fresh explosion in diagnoses, prompting what could be the biggest wave of the disease yet.
Preliminary data from Israel suggests that a booster dose of Pfizer’s shot can provide ‘significant protection’ against Omicron.
But analysis by DailyMail.com shows that even best-boosted states have currently administered the additional jabs to just 28 per cent of their populations. Data also suggests people considered fully vaccinated – those who’ve had two doses of Pfizer or Moderna’s vaccine, or one shot of the Johnson and Johnson inoculation – aren’t protected from Omicron at all, sparking further fears it of it gaining a rapid foothold in the United States.
Maine and Vermont are the nation’s leaders, each having booster 28 percent of the population – well above the nationwide booster average of 16 percent.
The states are also among the leaders in amount of the population fully vaccinated, with 75 percent of Vermonters and 74 percent of Mainers having completed the original vaccine series.
Vermont and Maine lead the way in America’s booster rollout, with over 28% of residents in each state having received the additional shot. Alabama is falling well behind the pace, with only 9% of residents having been boosted.
Massachusetts is also among the nationwide leaders in rate of the population being fully vaccinated, with 73 percent of Bay Staters getting the initial vaccine doses.
According to official data, 22 percent of the state’s residents have already gotten boosters as well.
Connecticut, New Hampshire and Rhode Island are also among the nation’s leader in vaccination rate, though they were not included in the analysis.
California, America’s most populous state, is among the states where more than one-in-five residents have received booster doses, with 20.6 percent being inoculated with the additional shot.
Colorado (21 percent of residents have received booster doses), Delaware (20 percent), Iowa (20 percent), Maryland (21 percent), Minnesota (24 percent), New Mexico (22 percent), Wisconsin (22 percent) and Oregon (20.93) have also boosted more than a fifth of their population.
Even among the leaders in rate of population boosted are still posting low numbers, though, with more than 70 percent of residents, even in the leading states, not having received the additional shots.
Early data on the Omicron variant shows that the strain can bypass a majority of the protection provided by the original Covid vaccine regimen.
If correct, it means that much of America is still at severe risk from the new strain, and the low booster rates leave much of the nation vulnerable to another large virus surge.
Health officials are urging Americans to get their COVID-19 booster shots after initial data on the Omicron variant finds that just being ‘fully vaccinated’ can still leave a person vulnerable to infection and severe symptoms from Covid. Pictured: A man in Benton Harbor, Michigan, receives a dose of a COVID-19 vaccine on December 12
Alabama has the third lowest percentage of fully-vaccinated residents in America, and finds itself dead last is booster uptake so far, with just seven percent of its residents receiving the additional jab.
The state has only fully-vaccinated 47 percent of its residents, meaning they’ve received two doses of Moderna or Pfizer’s shot, or one dose of the J&J vaccine.
Alabama is the only state with fewer than 10 percent of its residents boosted.
Wyoming is among the seven states not included in the data, while Idaho has boosted nearly 15 percent of its population.
Alabama joins many other states in the U.S. who have fallen behind their peers in their campaign to rollout boosters – just like many did with the initial vaccine doses.
Georgia (12 percent of the population boosted), Texas (13 percent), Tennessee (14 percent), Missouri (14 percent), South Carolina (12 percent), Louisiana (12 percent), Arkansas (12 percent), Mississippi (11 percent), West Virginia (15 percent) all have booster rates of under 15 percent.
Arizona (11 percent), Oklahoma (11 percent) and Kansas (15 percent) are also among the states with the lowest booster rates.
Health officials fear that Americans that have not yet received their booster shots are putting themselves at risk from the new Omicron variant.
Covid booster shots became widely available to all American adults in mid-November, a recently an additional dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech shot was even authorized for minors aged 16 and 17.
The recent discovery of the Omicron variant has pushed many to get the additional shots as well, as preliminary data shows the variant has the ability to evade protection provided by the initial vaccine regimen – but boosters can prevent infection.
In response, demand for the Covid booster has increased in recent weeks, though some areas are seeing more residents get their shots than others.
According to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 53.8 million Americans have received their booster shots.
Those who are 16 or older and received the second dose of either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine six months ago, or the single Johnson & Johnson shot two months ago, are eligible for booster shots.
Seven U.S. states were not included in the analysis as updated data showing how many residents had received booster shots was not readily available, and representatives from the states’ health departments did not immediately respond to a DailyMail.com inquiry.
More than 297 million Americans live in the 43 included states, according to official data – out of the 332 million total U.S. population.
Of the included population, 49.36 million have received a booster shot, or 16.5 percent of the population, almost matching the 16.2 percent figure reported by the CDC.
Twelve of the 40 states have distributed booster doses to more than 20 percent of their population, with two eclipsing the 25 percent mark.
The virus strain was first detected by South African officials late last month, and has more than 50 mutations – leading to many immediately fearing it could evade protection provided by the Covid vaccines.
An African research team found last week that people who had received the two-shot Pfizer Covid vaccine were at risk of infection or even severe complications from the virus.
A day later, Pfizer officials confirmed the findings, while also saying they had data showing the booster shot would re-establish protection.
Research from Israel, published Monday, confirms these findings, showing that the Pfizer booster provided adequate protection against Omicron, though still not as much protection as it does against other strains.
In response, health officials in the U.S., and around the world, have upped campaigns to expand usage of the additional shots.
Dr Anthony Fauci, America’s top infectious disease expert, said that the definition of ‘fully vaccinated’ would eventually be changed to only included people who have received the additional shot.
He, joined by Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla, also said last week that a fourth Covid vaccine dose could be on the cards.
Over the weekend, he added that Americans would ‘just have to deal with’ the prospect of receiving more doses of the vaccine, and that continued booster shots will be necessary for the remainder of the pandemic.
The Delta variant is still by far the dominant strain in the U.S., accounting for around 99 percent of sequenced cases, according to the CDC.
In total, 159 cases of Omicron have been confirmed by U.S. health officials in 30 states and the District of Columbia, though the total number of cases nationwide is much higher, including 43 cases reported by the CDC on Saturday.
Over the weekend, five U.S. states – Idaho , North Carolina , Ohio , Rhode Island and Tennessee – joined the growing list of states to detect the variant within its borders.
The nation also approaches another dark milestone in the pandemic, as it will likely eclipse 800,000 deaths caused by the virus at some point this week.
An analysis by the New York Times finds that Americans over the age of 65 have been struck especially hard by the virus, with one of every 100 people in the age group succumbing to Covid.
While Omicron cases in the U.S. are growing, they have been relatively mild, and not a single death in the country has been attributed to it yet.
A report published last week by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reviewed the first 43 cases of the variant detected in America.
Only one was severe enough to require hospitalization, and that person was discharged after only two days.
It matched initial reports from South African officials that cases of the variant were mild compared to those of the Delta variant or other Covid strains.
Still, the data is only preliminary, and with a relatively small sample size.
Many of the people being infected are fully vaccinated as well, meaning their body is more likely to be able to combat the virus anyways.
The Omicron variant’s ability to cause these cases in fully vaccinated people has some worried, though.
Last week, Pfizer, who partners with BioNTech to produce and distribute the nation’s more commonly used vaccine, announced it had preliminary data showing its jab is less effective at preventing infection from the new strain.
The data also showed that a Covid booster shot would re-establish protection against the variant.
Health officials are now pushing for more Americans to receive COVID-19 boosters as soon as possible, with Dr Anthony Fauci , the nation’s top infectious disease expert, even saying last week the definition of ‘fully vaccinated’ would likely change soon to only include people who have received the additional shot.
He also introduced the idea of a fourth shot being needed within the coming months, a sentiment shared by Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla.
While the Omicron variant has captured headlines in recent weeks, the Delta variant still accounts for around 99 percent of new cases in the U.S., and is still rapidly spreading nationwide.
The U.S. is currently recording 119,000 new Covid cases every day, a staggering 43 percent increase over the past two weeks.
It is likely that the country hits 50 million recorded cases of the virus since the pandemic first began in March 2020 within the coming days.
America is also staring down a grim Covid deaths milestone, as it slowly creeps towards 800,000 deaths from the virus.
Currently, the nation is averaging nearly 1,300 Covid deaths every day, a 32 percent increase within the last two weeks, with a pandemic total of 797,000.
Hospitalizations related to Covid are growing as well, with 65,000 people receiving treatment for more severe cases every day – a 23 percent increase of the last 14 days.
According to official CDC data, 72 percent of Americans have received at lease one dose of a Covid vaccine, while 60 percent are fully vaccinated.
London has become one of the UK’s Covid hotspots and officials expect the Omicron variant to become the city’s dominant strain in the coming days
The current situation in the UK could be a sign of things to come in the U.S. if more Americans do not get the shots.
The nation is currently averaging 50,000 new cases per day, a mark not reached since a massive Covid surge struck in early 2021.
More than 4,700 cases of the variant have been sequenced in the UK, leading the rest of the world.
Health Minister Sajid Javid warns that there could be up one million Omicron cases by the end of the year if the spread is not controlled.
In London, the capital city, experts believe the variant makes up around 40 percent of new infections, and that Omicron will become the dominant strain within the coming days.
A staggering 700 out of every 100,000 people in the area have tested positive for the virus within the past week, officials report.
The country reported the first confirmed Omicron death on Monday morning as well.
Some NHS leaders even told MailOnline lockdowns might have to return to the capital in order to control the virus’s rampant spread.
To control the situation, last week Prime Minister Boris Johnson enacted strict mandates.
Starting last Friday, Britons were ordered to work from home if they had a job that allowed so, to wear masks in many indoor public areas, and many venues will now require either proof of vaccine or negative test in order to enter.
Johnson also mobilized the military, a thousands strong volunteer force and and extended the operating hours of many clinics in the nation to supercharge to countries booster rollout.
Also among the world’s Omicron leaders is Denmark, with over 2,400 cases of the variant reported by the Nordic nation.
The country is following the UK in prioritizing the booster shots in an effort to limit the spread of the new variant.
Starting Monday, booster shots will be available to all Danes 40 years or older, hoping to first protect the most vulnerable citizens in the rollout of the shots.
Prime Minister Mette Fredericksen announced new measures to prevent spread of the virus last week, joining the UK.
People who can will now be ordered to work from home, and virtual schooling has been extended as well.
Bars and nightclubs will also have reduced operating hours, being forced to close at midnight now, in an effort to prevent transmission.
Still health officials still fear the variant will continue to spread in the European nation, and the country’s health authorities said Monday they expect Omicron to be the dominant strain in Copenhagen, the nation’s capital and largest city, by the end of the week.
Fearing a similar outbreak happening within its own borders, Israel restricted travel from both the UK and Denmark on Monday, adding the two European nations to a list of about 50 others.
It is the first country to ban travel from the UK and Denmark due to the Omicron variant.
Meanwhile in the U.S., President Biden banned travel from eight African countries, some of which are not suffering major Covid outbreaks at the moment, but still allows incoming travel from the UK and Denmark.
In South Africa, the nation where the variant was first detected, nearly 20,000 new cases are being recorded every day, and hospitalizations are skyrocketing.
Nationwide, the amount of people admitted to the hospital for Covid has increased ten-fold over the last four weeks, from 562 to more than 5,900 last week.
While officials in the country report that Omicron cases are relatively mild, many people in the Covid plagued nation are still suffering serious enough cases to require the additional care.
