Highly contagious COVID variant causing nationwide spike in cases
BOSTON (CBS) - As COVID cases and hospitalizations are rising in parts of the country yet again, local experts are weighing in on what the latest variant means for Massachusetts.
With Omicron BA.5 as the dominant strain now, many people in our state are getting COVID for the second or third time. That includes Michael Zahornacky of Natick, who had COVID-19 once in September 2021 when it was the Delta variant, and now has it again. "I'm congested, I can feel it in my head," he said. "I have a little bit of a headache today that I didn't have yesterday."
However, Zahornacky's attitude is different from the last time he tested positive. "It's not as scary," he said. "I've lived through one, so I know that I'll be fine this time."
Despite alarming headlines of repeat COVID infections and concerns over hospitalizations in other parts of the country, Tufts Medical Center epidemiologist Dr. Shira Doron says there is no cause for panic in Massachusetts.
In the state's first week reporting COVID-19 numbers on a weekly rather than a daily basis, the state reported 7,096 cases in a week. Hospitalizations are very slowly rising, and death rates seem to be declining right now.
"We are not in a… Omicron situation where [the graph] is going vertical at all," Dr. Doron said.
Rather, she views repeat COVID-19 cases and small upticks as just another part of the cycle of this virus that we have experienced over the last 2+ years. "This is the story that we are going to have for the foreseeable future," she said. "It's going to keep splitting off into new [subvariants]. It's going to keep on mutating, and we will see the next thing outcompete the last thing forever."
Regarding vaccination, Americans over the age of 50 or with weekend immune systems are currently eligible for a second booster shot. Dr. Doron tells WBZ that while the vaccine may not protect against transmission, it undoubtedly protects against severe disease and death.