January 1, Fauci: Omicron Variant Appears To Be Less Severe

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the White House’s chief medical adviser, said the omicron variant of the coronavirus appears to be less severe than the delta. However, he cautioned that getting a full picture would take more time.

“It’s too early to be able to determine the precise severity of disease but inklings that we are getting, and we must remember these are still in the form of anecdotal … but it appears that with the cases that are seen, we are not seeing a very severe profile of disease,” Fauci said.

“In fact, it might be and I underscore might be, less severe as shown by the ratio of hospitalizations per number of new cases,” he added.

The infectious disease expert noted that omicron appears to be more transmissible but offered the same caveat that it’s too early to tell.

“Real-world evidence is accumulating rapidly, literally on a daily basis, to allow us to determine increase in cases, possible increase in reproductive number and the rapid replacement of delta by omicron in certain situations,” Fauci said.

Source:

Fauci says Omicron variant is ‘almost certainly’ not more severe than Delta