Another COVID variant could emerge this winter, Fauci warns. (again and again and again..) BA.5 omicron COVID variant is prevalent across the country
foxnews ^ | 10/6/2022 | Julia Musto
Posted on 10/6/2022, 10:34:43
White House chief medical adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci cautioned Tuesday that "we should not be surprised" if a new COVID-19 variant emerges in the winter.
Speaking during an event with the USC Annenberg Center for Health Journalism, Fauci said that while pandemic trends like hospitalizations were down nationwide, challenges still lie ahead.
"We should anticipate that we very well may get another variant that would emerge that would elude the immune response that we've gotten from infection and/or from vaccination," Fauci said, noting that there's always the risk of an uptick of respiratory diseases during the winter months.
Last winter, the omicron variant led to a surge in cases, and multiple sublineages have spread since then.
"Remember, we were going in the right direction in the summer of 2021 and along came delta. Then, in the winter – November, December of 2021 – along came omicron. And, since then, we've had multiple sublineages of omicron," he said.
The White House and health officials are encouraging eligible Americans to get an updated omicron-specific booster shot of the coronavirus vaccine.
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