COVID-19 Update

Axios:

COVID cases rising with Christmas — and Omicron — around the corner

Coronavirus infections, hospitalizations and deaths are climbing across the U.S., ahead of a busy holiday week that will likely help the virus spread even more.

By the numbers:

• The U.S. is now averaging about 122,000 new cases per day — a slight increase over the past week, but a 41% spike over the past two weeks.
• Roughly 1,300 Americans are dying from COVID infections per day, on average.
• The CDC’s most recent update, released last week, showed a 15% jump in hospitalizations.

Where it stands:

• Wisconsin has the country’s biggest COVID outbreak right now, relative to its population, with an average of roughly 100 cases per 100,000 people.
• Michigan has more COVID deaths per 100,000 people than any other state, followed by Montana, Arizona, Kentucky and Wisconsin.
• Wisconsin saw the biggest increase in average COVID deaths over the past two weeks.

Meanwhile, the vaccination rate in the U.S. is barely moving. Nearly 40% of Americans aren't fully vaccinated, and the number who are fully vaccinated increased by less than 2 percentage points so far this month, according to CDC data.

About 27% of fully vaccinated Americans, including 52% of fully vaccinated seniors, have gotten a booster dose, per the CDC.

All available evidence shows that the vaccines are highly effective at preventing serious illness or death from the Delta variant of COVID-19, which remains the dominant strain in the U.S.

The Omicron variant, which is likely to become the dominant strain soon, appears to spread even more easily than Delta.

Early evidence suggests that vaccinated people will need a booster to achieve maximum protection against Omicron.

What we’re watching:

• Travel and indoor gatherings for Christmas will likely push COVID cases higher, and that trend will accelerate even further if and when Omicron gains a bigger foothold in the U.S.
• That will almost certainly translate into at least some increase in both hospitalizations and deaths, with unvaccinated Americans at the greatest risk for both.