The latest studies are good news, but only corroborate what we already knew. Get a booster.

(Originally published Dec. 23 in “What in the World“) The world is tittering with excitement over two new studies that suggest Omicron has a lower risk of severe infection requiring hospitalization. These studies draw their conclusions based on the lower hospitalization rates of people infected by Omicron in South Africa and in Scotland. One theory, already explored to some extent by researchers in Hong Kong, is that Omicron causes less severe problems than Delta in the lungs, with less binding of lung tissue in severe infections.

But experts, including White House medical advisor Anthony Fauci, caution that the studies may only prove that vaccines are doing their job. The studies’ subjects were in populations that already have significant immunity, either because of previous infections or high rates of vaccination. Indeed, a Danish study released Wednesday corroborated earlier research showing that booster shots of existing mRNA vaccines significantly improved resistance to Omicron. Initial vaccines only reduce the risk of severe infection, that earlier research suggested.

Also, Omicron is so much more infectious than Delta, and so much of the population still unvaccinated, that the new strain still poses a major threat of a surge in hospitalizations and deaths as it spreads. The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington’s School of Medicine predicts that Omicron may infect as many as three billion people in the next two months, peaking at 35 million new infections a day in mid-January. Experts in Germany, which has been seeing an ebb in its record-setting surge in Delta infections, are predicting that Omicron could be the dominant strain there by mid-January.

Failure to stem Omicron’s transmission by reintroducing restrictions on gathering and movement, therefore, risks perpetuating or intensifying the current rate of Covid deaths. While much lower than previous peaks, Covid is still killing roughly 6,500 people every day, which is no lower than when the virus first surged around the world in the spring of 2020. This is not a rate we can sustain nor should tolerate. And, given that fending off Omicron requires three doses of our best vaccines, it certainly doesn’t mean the pandemic is over. Not—pun intended—by a long shot.

The other encouraging news is the approval of Prifer’s Covid-19 pill. Keep in mind that these antiviral pills are not preventative—they can only be prescribed after positive diagnosis that a patient has Covid. They must be taken within five days of symptoms appearing to be effective. And supplies are still limited. Remaining uninfected remains preferable, and vaccines and social distancing are still the best ways to do that.

It’s good news, therefore, that California will require high-risk workers in healthcare, nursing homes and prisons to receive boosters by Feb. 1. But new legal objections to the Biden Administration’s vaccine mandates for large employers and healthcare workers will now advance to the U.S. Supreme Court early next month, with those workers free to reject vaccines in the meantime as Omicron sweeps across the country.

Perhaps the most overlooked, high-risk population is children. Because of their lower likelihood of exhibiting symptoms and their lower capacity for adhering to social distancing measures, they are one of the most dangerous groups of potential carriers. A new UK study found that children 5-11 were three times more likely to be infected than other segments of the population. Yet despite European approval of vaccines for children 5-11 weeks ago, France is only now getting around to approving jabs for kids. It won’t mandate them.