Anthony Fauci stated on Sunday that he is “as confident as you can be” that omicron infections would peak in most areas in the United States over the coming few weeks.
“You never want to be overconfident when you’re dealing with this virus,” Fauci said during an appearance on ABC’s “This Week.” “But if you look at the patterns that we’ve seen in South Africa, in the U.K., and in Israel … they have peaked and [are] starting to come down rather sharply.”
Despite lowering infection rates in other parts of the country where vaccination levels are greater, Fauci said several states, particularly in the South and West, have witnessed an increase in omicron infections.
“But if the pattern follows the trend that we are seeing in other places, such as the Northeast, I believe that you will start to see a turnaround throughout the entire country,” he predicted.
As per thehill, Fauci said that despite “varying” levels of vaccination across the country, “ultimately they’re all going to go in the same direction.”
For the past few months, public health specialists have been striving to combat the omicron version of the coronavirus. People who have omicron, especially those who have been vaccinated, have reported fewer symptoms from the virus’s extremely contagious variant.
President Biden and other public officials have stated that getting vaccinated and boosted against the coronavirus is the best method to protect yourself from serious sickness caused by all strains of the virus.
“We do know … that, even with omicron, boosting makes a major, major difference in protecting you from hospitalization and severe outcomes,” Fauci said. “So things are looking good. We don’t want to get overconfident, but they look like they are going in the right direction right now.”