The latest on the coronavirus pandemic and the Omicron variant

One in every 100 seniors in the United States has died of Covid-19, according to federal data.

More than three-quarters of people who have died from Covid-19 were 65 or older, with at least 514,000 deaths in this age group since the start of the pandemic, according to data from the US Centers from Disease Control and Prevention. The latest data from the US Census Bureau estimates that there are about 50.4 million total people in this age group in the US.

Covid-19 has been especially deadly for people age 75 and older: More than one in every 60 people in this age group have died of Covid-19.

Overall, about one in every 417 people in the US have died of Covid-19 and one in every seven people have been infected – more than 797,000 deaths and nearly 50 million cases, according to Johns Hopkins University. However, experts estimate the true toll of Covid-19 to be even higher.

Omicron will become the dominant variant in London in the next 48 hours, the British health secretary told lawmakers at the UK Parliament.

"There are now 4,713 confirmed cases of Omicron in the UK,” Javid said. "And the UK Health Security Agency estimates that the current rate of, the current number of daily infections are around 200,000.”

In addition to the first fatality from Omicron reported earlier on Tuesday, the health secretary also said 10 people had been admitted to hospital with the new variant.

“It's vital we remember that hospitalizations and deaths lag infections by around two weeks so we can expect those numbers to dramatically increase in the days and weeks that lie ahead,” he said. 

The overall risk from the Omicron variant remains high, and more information is still needed about the variant, the World Health Organization said in a technical brief about the variant, published Friday.

The overall threat of Omicron is dependent on three key factors, WHO says:

WHO says Omicron appears to have a growth advantage over Delta, adding that it is spreading faster than Delta in South Africa, where there was low Delta circulation. But, it also appears to spread faster in countries with high incidence of Delta, based on current limited evidence, the organizations says. 

“Given the current available data, it is likely that Omicron will outpace the Delta variant where community transmission occurs,” WHO says. 

There is limited data on the clinical severity and vaccine efficacy or effectiveness to Omicron, WHO says.  

On clinical severity, WHO says that while preliminary findings suggest it may be less severe than Delta, and cases reported so far who have been mild or asymptomatic, but “it remains unclear to what extent Omicron may be inherently less virulent.”

More data is needed to understand the severity profile.

For vaccine efficacy and effectiveness, WHO says there are limited available data and no peer-reviewed evidence. Preliminary evidence and the altered antigenic profile of Omicron’s spike protein also suggests that there may be a reduction in vaccine efficacy against infection and transmission. There is also preliminary evidence which suggests that reinfection in South Africa has increased, which may be associated with humoral immune evasion.

The accuracy of PCR and antigen-based rapid diagnostic tests doesn’t appear to be influenced by Omicron, WHO says. 

On treatments, WHO says that therapeutic interventions that target the host response – corticosteroids, for example — should still be effective. Monoclonal antibodies, however, will have to be tested individually.

WHO gives a number of priority actions for its member states. These include enhanced surveillance, laboratory testing for Omicron, vaccination, a risk-based approach in adjusting international travel measures, public health and social measures, health care system readiness and risk communication and community engagement. 

Only about half of fully vaccinated nursing home residents (51%) – and less than a quarter of fully vaccinated staff (22%) – have received a booster dose of Covid-19 vaccine, according to data published Friday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

Booster coverage among residents ranges from 81% in North Dakota to 30% in Arizona. It tends to be higher than average in the Northeast and Great Plains regions, and lower than average in the South. 

Nationally, 87% of residents and 79% of staff are fully vaccinated with either their initial one- or two-dose series, according to the CDC data. 

The federal data includes information submitted through December 5 by facilities certified by the US Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Coverage may be higher than reported, as data from the most recent week is not yet complete. The share of nursing homes reporting data into the CDC varies by state.  

On Sept. 24, the CDC recommended that all seniors and residents in long-term care settings receive a booster dose of Covid-19 vaccine, guidance that was later expanded to all adults. By the end of October, a month after the initial recommendation, about a quarter of residents had received a booster. Now, two months after the initial recommendation, about half have received a booster. 

About 143,000 nursing home residents and staff have died of Covid-19, according to CMS data, accounting for about 18% of total Covid-19 deaths in the United States. 

There’s a substantial decrease in effectiveness of the Pfizer and AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccines against the Omicron variant, according to a study from researchers at Oxford University.

The results suggest the Omicron variant may drive a new wave of coronavirus infections, the researchers said, although there’s no evidence it would lead to an increase in severe disease or deaths. 

The Oxford researchers used blood samples collected from people who had received two doses of the AstraZeneca or Pfizer Covid-19 vaccines. For the Pfizer vaccine, effectiveness was lower against Omicron than against Delta, except for two to nine weeks after the second dose. Among those who received two doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, “there was no protective effect of vaccination against symptomatic disease with Omicron from 15 weeks after the second dose.”

These results may be due in part to differences in the populations who received the vaccines. The AstraZeneca vaccine was used early in the UK’s vaccination program, including in nursing homes and among older and higher-risk populations. The Pfizer vaccine’s high level of effectiveness against Omicron at two to nine weeks after the second dose is likely among recently vaccinated young adults and teens.

The study was released as a preprint, which means it has not been peer-reviewed or published.

The researchers noted they could not determine whether vaccines protect against severe disease because of the small number of Omicron cases and the lag between infection and severe illness. “It will be some time before effectiveness against severe disease with Omicron can be estimated but, based on experience with other variants, this is likely to be substantially higher than the estimates against symptomatic disease,” they wrote.    

“These data are important but are only one part of the picture,” Matthew Snape, a co-author of the paper and professor in pediatrics and vaccinology at the University of Oxford, said in a statement. “They only look at neutralising antibodies after the second dose, but do not tell us about cellular immunity, and this will also be tested using stored samples once the assays are available.”

The Omicron coronavirus variant is spreading at a “phenomenal rate” in the UK, Health Secretary Sajid Javid said on Monday. 

There are “about 10 people” currently in hospital in England with the new variant, Javid told Sky News. He said he could not confirm if anyone in the country had died from Omicron but warned "there is always a lag between infection and then hospitalization and then, sadly, death." 

Omicron was probably behind around 40% of infections in London, the health secretary said. He was speaking as guidelines asking people to work from home came into force on Monday.

Javid urged Britons to accept the offer a third dose of coronavirus vaccine, echoing Prime Minister Boris Johnson who delivered a televised address Sunday on the need to boost inoculations.  

“I’m afraid it is now clear that two doses of vaccine are simply not enough to give the level of protection we all need,” Johnson said. “But the good news is that our scientists are confident that with a third dose – a booster dose – we can all bring our level of protection back up." 

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has announced a new temporary indoor mask mandate, but at least one county leader says he won't be enforcing it.

On Friday, Hochul announced the rule, in place from today until at least Jan. 15. It requires New Yorkers to wear a mask in all indoor public spaces unless businesses implement a vaccine requirement.

The governor said she is trying to get ahead of what she calls a "winter surge" for three main reasons: increased cases, reduced hospital capacity and insufficient vaccination rates in certain areas, according to a news release.

Anyone who violates the mask mandate could face fines of up to $1,000 and is subject to all civil and criminal penalties.

But the mandate brought a sharp response from one county leader.

According to a statement from Rockland County Executive Ed Day, "I told the Governor's staff that we cannot and will not enforce this requirement as it currently stands. How do you enforce something that's based on a press release that does not contain adequate information and explanation? The Governor has said that this program will be reevaluated on January 15, 2022, but what metrics will be used as part of this reevaluation?"

The UK has confirmed its first death from the Omicron coronavirus variant, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Monday.

Johnson provided no further details on the case and did not specify if the person was vaccinated.

Speaking during a visit to a vaccination center in central London, Johnson said the Omicron variant "is spiking now in London and some other parts of country."

The variant is now accounting for about 40% of cases in London, according to Johnson who said that "by tomorrow it will be the majority of cases."

The UK will now need to "hit warp speed" on its rollout of booster doses, Johnson said, stressing the need to "attain a pace and daily number of booster doses that we have never seen before."