Health officials can't say much about the new variant, Omicron, the one thing they can say, is that it will likely make its way here.
“It probably will arrive…it's nearly impossible to prevent viruses from circulating worldwide and I think we've learned that,” says Dr. Mark Pandori, with the Nevada State Public Health Laboratory.
Recent data from Israel, South Africa and Italy shows, those who are vaccinated, could be less sick, if infected.
“those fully vaccinated individuals, contracting the new variant, are generally experiencing only mild illness and they are significantly less likely to be hospitalized,” says Dr. Ellie Graeden, Talus Analytics.
Health experts says strategies to combat the virus, are the same as they have always been and getting the vaccine and the booster, are the best way to fight the virus.
“There's every reason to believe that vaccines are still going to be a good defense against Omicron, if not perfect, they're going to offer some degree of protection,” says Pandori. The reason why this is a variant of concern is because it has more mutations than they have seen in the past, but they need more time to collect data to see if the variant is indeed worse than what we have seen.
“While the genetic blueprint is telling us to be worried about this virus, we don’t have the data to support that is actually more transmissible and that is has more virus loads,” he says.
Since the winter does make it easier for respiratory viruses to spread, health officials remind people of the importance of getting the flu shot. “This year's flu vaccine protects against four different strands,” says Graeden.
According to the governor's office, areas of the state considered high risk, will remain under the mask mandate through the holidays and into the new year.
