The omicron variant of COVID-19 has been as of Friday, Dec. 3, including our neighbors in Colorado and Utah. While the variant is causing concern, New Mexico hospital officials earlier this week urged the public to not panic, but remain vigilant.
that omicron appears to be spreading in South Africa more than twice as fast as delta. Dr. Rohini McKee, chief quality and safety officer at University of New Mexico Hospital, said at a news conference Tuesday that we鈥檒l know more about the variant in a few weeks.
鈥淥ne of the most important things we鈥檙e waiting on is information on how effective existing vaccines will be against the omicron variant,鈥� she said.
McKee said global concern is over mutations in three of the key areas that allow our antibodies to recognize and neutralize the virus. 鈥淎nd we鈥檝e never seen this before,鈥� she explained.
鈥淲e need to stay calm and understand that we have the tools that we need to deal with omicron or delta or any other variant,鈥� she told New Mexicans awaiting more data. 鈥淭hey may not be glamorous, but they work.鈥�
Those include social distancing, masking and getting vaccinated.
are urging booster shots six months after a first series of Moderna or Pfizer鈥檚 vaccine, and two months after an initial dose of Johnson & Johnson.
