(AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey)With the omicron variant sending coronavirus cases spiking across the country, the pandemic is once again upending daily life and evoking the early days of the outbreak as scientists race to understand the still-unknown implications of this new type of coronavirus. What health officials do know is that omicron is already infecting scores of Americans, dealing a psychological blow to an exhausted nation and provoking new policy challenges. The outbreak has been fueled both by omicron, which is spreading at astounding speed, and the older delta variant. He predicted that omicron could overtake delta to comprise 100% of his health system’s coronavirus cases by January. Early data shows that the Pfizer and Moderna vaccine regimen, combined with a booster shot, provide the strong protection against the omicron variant, although less protection than against earlier forms of the virus.
