Currently, there is insufficient data on how easily the Omicron variant may be transmitted or whether it produces more serious illness, according to two of the Mount Sinai Health System’s leading experts, Judith A. Aberg, MD, Dean of System Operations for Clinical Sciences and Chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases, and Bernard Camins, MD, Medical Director for Infection Prevention.
It will probably take a few weeks for researchers and clinicians to fully assess how effective existing COVID-19 vaccines are against the Omicron variant. But if you have not yet been vaccinated, or are eligible and have not yet received a booster shot, you should do so as soon as possible. Vaccine makers are assessing the need to reformulate their vaccines against the new variant, but that may take months; Drs. Aberg and Camins say it is better to get some additional protection now rather than waiting for the potential for better protection later.
Featured Presenters:
Judith A. Aberg, MD
Dr. George Baehr Professor of Clinical Medicine
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Chief of Infectious Diseases
Mount Sinai Health System
Bernard Camins, MD
Medical Director, Infection Prevention, Mount Sinai Health System
Professor of Medicine (Infectious Diseases)
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai