Despite soaring cases and record-high Covid-19 hospitalisations, the United States is approaching the "threshold" of transitioning to living with the coronavirus as a manageable disease, Anthony Fauci said today.
Speaking to the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), the top US scientist said eliminating Covid was unrealistic and that "Omicron, with its extraordinary, unprecedented degree of efficiency of transmissibility, will ultimately find just about everybody".
"There's no way we're going to eradicate this" virus, he said, given its contagiousness, its propensity to mutate into new variants and the large pool of unvaccinated people.
Those up to date with their vaccines remain well protected against severe outcomes, but vaccine efficacy against infection has fallen.
But "as Omicron goes up and down," the country will hopefully enter a new phase "where there'll be enough protection in (the) community, enough drugs available so that when someone does get infected and is in a high risk group, it will be very easy to treat that person," said Dr Fauci.
"When we get there, there's that transition, and we may be on the threshold of that right now," he said, while also stressing that with the country currently recording almost a million infections a day, nearly 150,000 people in hospital and more than 1,200 daily deaths, "we're not at that point".
Official data showed there are currently 145,982 Covid hospitalisations, even though a significant percent are thought to be hospitalised "with" the disease rather than because of it.
The United States reported 1.35 million new coronavirus infections yesterday, according to a Reuters tally, the highest daily total for any country in the world. The previous record was 1.03 million cases on 3 January.
While the Omicron variant is potentially less severe, health officials have warned that the sheer number of infections could strain hospital systems, some of which have already suspended elective procedures as they struggle to handle the increase in patients and staff shortages.
The surge in cases has disrupted schools, which are struggling with absences of staff, teachers and bus drivers.
Chicago cancelled classes for a fourth day as the district and teachers failed to agree on how to deal with increased infections.
New York City suspended service on three subway lines as a large number of workers were out sick, according to its Twitter account.
Companies' plans for workers to return to office have also been derailed.
Deaths are averaging 1,700 per day, up from about 1,400 in recent days but within levels seen earlier this winter.
A redesigned Covid-19 vaccine that specifically targets the Omicron variant is likely needed, Pfizer Inc's CEO said yesterday, adding his company could have one ready to launch by March.
