The U.S. should prepare for a spike in COVID cases this winter as more people gather indoors and infections already begin to rise in Europe, White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator Ashish Jha says.
"We are seeing this increase in Europe, and Europe tends to precede us by about four to six weeks," Jha told NPR."And so it stands to reason that as we get into November, December, maybe January, we are going to see an increase in infections across much of the country."
Jha said the extent of any surge would come down to a number of factors, namely the precautions people take and the vaccination rates.While updated booster shots designed to target the omicron variants are now widely available, the CDC estimates only about 13 to 15 million people have already gotten one, compared to the more than 200 million adults in the U.S. who have received their primary series of vaccinations.This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
The number of Americans who have received the new COVID booster is a fraction of those who had the original dose.Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images The number of Americans who have received the new COVID booster is a fraction of those who had the original dose.I've been recommending to all my family and friends that they get it before Halloween. I mean, go get it now. And the reason is if you get it before Halloween, you're going to have a really high degree of protection as you get into Thanksgiving, as you get into the holidays. You know, you can't time these things too tightly.
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