Former Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said Sunday there is “no indication” the omicron variant causes more severe illness than previous strains of the coronavirus.
Gottlieb told CBS hospitalizations in South Africa, where the omicron variant was first detected, are down around 30 percent relative to cases, noting officials are probably not measuring all the cases in South Africa.
“And more severe cases requiring ICU admissions are down 80 percent relative to past waves in cases versus ICU admissions, so it does appear to be a less severe illness,” Gottlieb said.
Gottlieb added the reason he believes omicron is “manifesting as a less severe illness is probably because we have baseline immunity in the population,” noting 80 percent of Americans and 90 percent of South Africans “have some level of immunity” from vaccination or previous infection.
“We have some baseline immunity that protects us from getting very sick,” he continued. ”And that's in fact what you're probably seeing in terms of these hospitalization statistics.”
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Current data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that omicron has been detected in 45 states thus far, and the CDC is urging caution ahead of the holidays. Outgoing director of the National Institutes of Health, Francis Collins, told CBS omicron is very contagious and he expects cases to “go up pretty steeply over the course of the next couple of weeks.”
“A big message for today is if you've had vaccines and a booster, you're very well protected against Omicron, causing you severe disease,” Collins added. “So, anybody listening to this, who's in that 60% of Americans who are eligible for a booster but haven't yet gotten one, this is the week to do it.”
Gottlieb echoed the cautionary advice on Sunday, adding it is especially important over the next four to six weeks.
“I think it is prudent, especially for people who are going to be around vulnerable individuals to take added precautions heading into the holidays,” he said. “Try to use testing, make sure you're boosted, take precautions within your settings in your social settings as well.”
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