Dr. Anthony Fauci, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director chief medical adviser to the United States President Joe Biden, warned everyone against attending parties with 30 or more people on Wednesday, ahead of New Year's Day.
Dr. Fauci Suggests Staying Away From Mass New Year's Eve Parties
The health expert recommends small gatherings of people or relatives "who are vaccinated" and were given a booster shot, VOA reported.
The leading infectious disease expert in the US urges Americans to avoid big New Year's Eve celebrations because the country continues to set record-breaking levels of the daily new COVID-19 infections drawn by the highly infectious Omicron strain.
"When you are talking about a New Year's Eve party, where you have 30, 40, 50 people celebrating, you do not know the status of the vaccination - I would recommend strongly, stay away from that this year," he said. "There will be other years to do that, but not this year."
To date, the US posted over 480,000 new COVID-19 infections yesterday, Johns Hopkins University's Coronavirus Resource Center reported just two days following the setting of a new single-day record of over 512,000.
Hundreds of New COVID-19 Cases Each Day
The country averages over 265,000 new COVID-19 cases each day, breaking the previous 250,000 daily records of new infections set early this year.
In an interview on CNBC financial cable network on Wednesday, Fauci forecasted that the Omicron-driven surge might reach its peak in the US by the end of January.
According to health experts, despite the fast-moving spread worldwide since it was initially detected in South Africa in November, it appears to cause less severe infection compared to other versions or variants of the virus.
A World Health Organization (WHO) official cautioned this week that it is too early to tell how this new strain will impact older and more vulnerable individuals.
Booster Shot Efficacy
New research from South Africa recently suggested a booster shot of the single-dose Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine offers strong protection from the Omicron variant.
Specifically, researchers at the South African Medical Research Council said the Johnson & Johnson booster vaccine was administered to approximately 69,000 health care workers from November 15 to December 20.
Moreover, the results showed the efficacy of getting a booster shot at preventing hospital admissions increased from 63 percent shortly after it was given to 84 percent 14 days after and 85 percent within one to two months.
Meanwhile, separate research involving the J&J vaccine in the US hints that the vaccine offers a "41-fold increase in neutralizing antibodies" when administered as a booster shot for individuals who were given the Pfizer vaccine that required two doses.
In a CNN report, Doctors at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston said booster generates a five-fold rise in so-called T cells, an arm of the immune system in humans that's killing virus-stricken cells, not to mention keeping them from duplicating and spreading.
Earlier this week, Dr. Fauci also recommended the implementation of a vaccination directive for domestic air travel after millions of people flew overseas to celebrate Christmas this year, New York Post reported.
He said, one is making a requirement for vaccination for people to ride the planes who are entering the country, that's understandable.
Fauci's recent recommendation is reported on Forbes Breaking News's YouTube video below:
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