Gregory Poland (pictured), warns of 32,000 Americans who are alive now and will die from Covid before the end of this year. They don’t even know what it is yet.
After Arizona, Iowa and Michigan joined the growing list Thursday morning, Omicron COVID-19 is now available in half of all U.S. States.
At least 25 states currently have Omicron cases.
Omicron is the dominant headline, but the Delta variant continues to spread across the country, with a 30% increase in daily new cases and a 20% increase in deaths in the last two weeks.
One expert is warning that America’s current worsening Covid situation and the Omicron variant, as well as the general apathy of the populace towards the pandemic are all alarming signs.
Gregory Poland, a leading expert in vaccination and immunology and a Mayo Clinic epidemiologist and editor-in-chief for the scientific journals Vaccine and Vaccine.
His warning is that Americans should be vigilant as the number of deaths continues to climb.
According to DailyMail.com’s calculations, 32,000 Americans believe they will be alive for Christmas and New Years. However, he said that the death rate is currently at around 32,000.
“None of them believe” [they will die].’
Although early Omicron data is encouraging, it shows that this highly infectious variant of the virus does not produce as many severe infections as Delta or other Covid strains. However, he worries that others will be able to see the messages and become more vulnerable to the dangers.
He said, “Everybody is comforting himself with the notion that Omicron has less severe.”
“It might be, but that’s very preliminary information. It comes from one area in the world, where Delta is not as fatal as it was here.
“It amazes me that even a little report such as that can travel the globe. That belief is universally held by everyone. Yet, despite all the work they have done to immunize people over the past year, it is still not happening.
Poland calls on Americans to become fully immunized as quickly as possible. Those who are already immunized should also get their booster shot.
Since the Omicron variant was discovered, he is following the lead of other officials in the health sector. Dr Anthony Fauci, the country’s foremost infectious disease specialist and top physician said earlier this week that only those who received booster doses would be considered fully vaccinated.
Friday’s report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that the first 43 Omicron-related cases reported in the U.S. was mild. There have been no serious complications.
Officials from the UK are also sounding the alarm. The country is currently experiencing its own Covid surge, and is one of the top countries in Omicron sequence cases.
Sajid Javid (Health Minister) said this week there may be as high as 1 million cases in Britain by the end. Boris Johnson, Prime Minister, enacted harsh mandates including work from home orders, mask mandates, and the use of vaccine passports in order to go to certain events.
In Scotland, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon referred to the Covid situation as a potential ‘tsunami’, and issued an order that all people who either test positive for the virus or are exposed to it quarantine for at least ten days.
South Africa is experiencing one of the most severe spikes of Covid cases since the outbreak. The country where Omicron was discovered in late December, recorded 22,000 cases Thursday.
Omicron COVID-19 was sequenced at least 80 times in the United States. This is about half of America.
Covid cases in Britain are nearing all-time highs. According to experts, the Omicron variant accounts for approximately 8% of Omicron cases. This is around 4,000 new cases every day. The Prime Minister Johnson issued strict instructions Wednesday regarding the prevention of spread of the virus.
Poland claims that America’s inability to manage the pandemic is due to its human failure to grasp the magnitude of the spread.
He said, “What are we fundamentally talking about is the concept of exponential reality… There are no conditions in which humans can’t make bad decisions under exponential reality.”
Due to the infectious nature of Covid and particularly the most severe variants such as Delta and Omicron that can spread quickly, the number of cases can easily double within a few days. This means even a controlled situation can become overwhelming.
Poland believes in vaccine mandates.
Additionally, he supports the “pre-emptive” strike against Covid announced by New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio earlier in the week. These mandates include a requirement for proof of vaccinations and mandatory vaccine mandates on private sector workers.
Poland stated, “I felt that that was a very smart and courageous act that most people won’t want to take, but not realizing its value to them.”
Poland believes that it’s okay for people to travel during Christmas and New Year, even though his view on the pandemic may not be the most optimistic. However, he does recognize the risks involved in this.
“I do not have any problem with that.” Simply [make sure]They’re all fully vaccinated, boosted, and were properly fitted with a mask,” he stated.
“We were created for community. We were designed for social interaction. This question asks how you can do it safely. It’s also possible to do it safely. [how to]Balance risks with benefits.
Poland stated that there is no safe way to do anything. He also said that driving a car could be dangerous. However, people can make things safer by wearing masks and being vaccinated.
This week saw 60 percent of America’s population become fully vaccinated. It happened just days before the 1st anniversary of first available vaccine doses.
Pfizer is the manufacturer of the most widely used vaccine in America. It used over 110 million Americans to fully immunize them. On Wednesday, Pfizer announced that data showed the two first doses of the vaccine had not been as effective against this new version.
This was just a day following a report by the African Health Research Institute that found that Omicron-resistant antibodies were 40 times lower in people who had been fully vaccinated using the Pfizer vaccine.
Pfizer said that the data it has showed would show that booster shots increase antibody levels 25-fold and protect against future attacks.
The Food and Drug Administration extended Thursday’s eligibility for the Pfizer booster shot to include 16- and 17-year-olds.
A little over 50 million people, which is 15 percent, have received booster shots. Half of them were given the Pfizer shot.
America has also seen an average of around 120,000 daily Covid cases. This is a 30% increase in the last two weeks.
In the United States, deaths have increased 18% in the past week. That’s an increase of nearly 1300 each week. The 62,000 Americans who are currently in hospital with severe cases due to the virus represent a 20% rise in mortality over the previous two weeks.
According to Dr Michael Osterholm of the University of Minnesota, Omicron may become the predominant strain in the coming weeks.
Osterhold stated, “I believe Omicron will be extraordinary in its speed,”
It took Alpha and Delta two months to become the dominant variants in the world. Some countries were quicker than others. I think you’re going to see this one become the dominant variant in just a matter of weeks.’
Health officials in the UK believe that the Omicron variant may be responsible for around 4,000 cases each day. This is as the country nears 50,000 cases per day.
Prim Minister Johnson on Wednesday announced that he would take drastic measures to stem the spread and exacerbate the situation.
The wearing of face masks in public indoor spaces will now be mandatory. Restaurants, bars, and gyms, however, will not be subject to the new requirement.
If they are confirmed Omicron-related, people who may be in close proximity to them will be required to undergo daily Covid testing and placed into quarantine.
A vaccine pass, called the “NHS Covid passport”, was also mentioned by him. It will be required to enter many outdoor and indoor events. But, it will suffice for most people to present a negative Covid.
The mandates were put into effect Friday.
There have been nearly 1,000 confirmed cases in the UK of this variant. However, health officials found that only 8% of these cases were Omicron.
Scotland has been one of the most affected areas by the Covid surge in the UK.
On Friday, the country had reported over 5,000 Covid cases. This is its highest number in three months and a twofold increase on last week.
First Minister Sturgeon announced that the Omicron variant presents a new and severe challenge.
‘To be blunt, because of the much greater and faster transmissibility of this new variant, we may be facing – indeed we may be starting to experience – a potential tsunami of infections.’
‘…’I think we can now say with some confidence that we expect it to overtake Delta within days, not weeks – we estimate this could be as early as the very beginning of next week.’
Denmark also ranks amongst the top countries for Omicron sequence cases. As of Friday morning, around 600 Omicron infections had been confirmed in Denmark.
A Christmas lunch in Viborg, attended by 150 students from two high schools nearby on November 27, was the cause of the nation’s worst outbreak.
A minimum of 64 Omicron variants have been linked to this event.
It is thought to have caused the most severe outbreak of variant A by being close to more than 1000 people.
As of Friday, Covid cases in Denmark rose to approximately 7,000 per day. This is the most recent record in Nordic countries.
Mette Fredericksen, the Prime Minister of Denmark, announced Wednesday new steps to stop the spread of the virus in response to the increase in cases.
People with the ability to can now work at home. Additionally, virtual education has been expanded.
Nightclubs and bars will have shorter hours in order to avoid transmission.
A second outbreak may have been reported at Scatec’s holiday party, which is a Norwegian energy company.
In November the Oslo-based company hosted a Christmas party at Cape Town in South Africa. This was before the discovery and many of its employees were there.
70 of the employees at the company tested positive for Covid over the last week. In addition, 50 people outside the company, who attended the party, also test positive.
However, only 13 of the 120 cases were sequenced to confirm Omicron. It is thought that the rest of the cases could be the same strain.
Scatec believes that one staffer from the company is ‘patient zero,’ and all related infections are tied to him.
The virus was contracted by those who weren’t a party goer but became infected after Scatec workers began to mix with other patrons in the bar.
Alle cases relating to this event were reported as mild.
This was a wake-up call to Europe as everyone in the office had been fully vaccinated, but the virus could still cause severe infections.
The number of cases in Norway has doubled since mid-November, reaching 4,200 cases per day. This is a record high for Norway. Friday’s report contained more than 5,200 cases.
South Africa has seen an almost threefold rise in Covid hospitalizations over the past week. They now exceed 3,800 for the week.
The Gauteng Province, the place where the variant was sequenced for the first time during Thanksgiving week, has seen hospitalizations drop to 1,700 this week from 2,200 the previous week. However, the number is nearly double that of the 833 hospitalizations two weeks ago.
MailOnline.com reported that while hospitalizations in this country are increasing, only eight percent require ICU treatment. This is around one-third of the normal rate for ICU admissions.
This is yet another indication that Covid may have a milder strain of the virus than the previous ones.
Even though the variant has been detected in some parts of America and South Africa, it is not yet possible to travel to the U.S.
