The Omicron subvariant BA.5 is providing another challenge to health officials. "It is so highly contagious," said Dr. Nancy Nielsen, noting President Biden's recent infection.
Nielsen, Senior Associate Dean at the University at Buffalo's Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, discussed the development with WBFO.
"This variant is really nasty. It is highly contagious. And it seems to escape the immunization that one has, whether you have antibodies from having had the infection earlier or from vaccination."
According to the New York Times, COVID-19 hospitalizations have risen by 19 percent over the last two weeks. Nielsen though points out how local hospitalizations remain "flat."
That could be attributed to the relatively high rate of COVID-19 vaccinations in the region. Nielsen says of the 1.3 million Western New Yorkers who are eligible, 900,000 have received the vaccine. Those numbers, Nielsen points out, are just one part of the story.
"Under (the age of) five, fewer than three percent are vaccinated. Age five-to-11, 18 percent are vaccinated."
Nielsen encourages parents to have their youngsters vaccinated.
"Although kids in that age range, under five for example, really don't get terribly sick unless they have an underlying condition, the problem is you can still see 'long COVID,' with symptoms that can last months."
For those who fear needles for their kids, some good news could be coming. Nielsen says nose sprays and skin patches may eventually be used to deliver the COVID vaccine.
