CDC expanding surveillance at 4 big US airports to look for Omicron, director says

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is expanding surveillance at four major international airports to keep an eye out for the Omicron variant of coronavirus in travelers, the agency’s director said Tuesday.

The airports include two in the New York City area, plus ones in Atlanta and San Francisco.

“CDC is evaluating how to make international travel as safe as possible, including critical partner testing closer to the time of flights and considerations around additional post arrival testing and self-quarantine,” CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky told a White House Covid-19 briefing.

“Thanks to our updated travel policies earlier this month, we are also actively working with the airlines to collect passenger information that can be used by CDC and local public health jurisdictions to enhance contact tracing and post-arrival follow-up should a case be identified in a traveler.” 

CDC is also keeping in close touch with state and local health officials, she said.

“As we have done throughout the pandemic, we are holding regular, even daily calls, with local county and state health officials and our public health partners. These calls include state, county and city health officials, state epidemiologists, laboratory directors and partners from public health organizations. And we are conveying the knowledge we have to these partners and we are relying on their local expertise to provide information,” Walensky said.

“We have worked to address that spread of infection for travel during travel through nesting vaccination and pre departure testing for international passengers. And we are continuously working closely with our public health partners, both here in America and around the world,” she continued.

Oil prices fell sharply on Tuesday to levels unseen since late August on worries that Omicron will dent previously robust demand for energy. 

US crude dropped nearly 7% to $65.30 a barrel in afternoon trading. At session lows, oil fell below $65 a barrel for the first time in three months. 

The selloff leaves oil down by a staggering 23% in just the past three weeks. As recently as November 10, crude was flirting with $85 a barrel.

The reversal was at first driven by an expectation that the United States and other countries would tap strategic oil reserves to cool off red-hot prices. 

But more recently, oil is losing steam on fears the new coronavirus variant will hurt oil demand by causing fewer people to drive, fly and commute. Crude plunged by 13% on Friday, its worst day since April 2020, and only posted a modest rebound on Monday. 

You can follow live updates on how the markets are reacting to the Omicron variant here.

The Omicron variant of coronavirus has been found in 20 countries so far but not the US yet, Dr. Anthony Fauci, chief medical adviser to President Biden and director of the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said Tuesday.

Fauci said Omicron looks very different from the now-dominant Delta variant.

“This mutational profile is very different from other variants of interest and concern. And although some mutations are also found in Delta, this is not Delta. It’s something different. And these mutations have been associated with increased transmissibility and immune evasion, whereas other of the mutations have not yet been characterized as to their functional capability,” he said.

“Obviously, when you look at the molecular configuration of those particular variants, it suggests strongly that there’s increased transmission compared with the original pandemic virus, but it is difficult to infer what the relationship between this transmissibility is and Delta. Although you can suggest it might be more, we do not know until we see the dynamics of how this evolves,” he added.

Fauci said while the variant carries many mutations, vaccines are likely to protect people against severe disease at the least, even if the variant doesn’t stimulate the immune system in the same way as older variants do.

“What about vaccine effectiveness? Now obviously, significant reductions in the neutralizing titers are possible. And we say that because the mutations suggest immune evasion. But remember, as with other variants, although partial immune escape may occur, vaccines, and particularly boosters, give a level of antibody that even with variants like Delta give you a degree of protection, particularly against severe disease. So there’s every reason to believe as we talk about boosters, when you get a level high enough that you are going to get at least some degree of cross protection, particularly against severe disease,” he said.

Fauci continued: “And what about disease severity? Again, these are estimates and with a small number of cases, it is very difficult to know whether or not this particular variant is going to result in severe disease. Although some preliminary information from South Africa suggests no unusual symptoms associated with the variant, we do not know and it is too early to tell.”

Italian authorities have confirmed an additional five cases of the Omicron variant of coronavirus in the southwestern Campania region.

The new cases are all traceable back to the first case identified in Italy on Saturday, Campania region President Vincenzo De Luca said Tuesday.

“Three of them were in the same class at school of patient zero’s children, one is school personnel and another is a caregiver who works for the family,” De Luca said.

Patient zero had recently arrived in Italy from Mozambique. His wife and two children tested positive on Monday. 

Italy now has a total of nine reported cases of the variant.

The Biden administration is working with vaccine manufacturers in the event further vaccine modifications are needed as scientists learn more about the Omicron variant of Covid-19, White House Covid-19 response coordinator Jeff Zients said Tuesday. 

“We believe the current vaccines provided at least some protection against this variant and that boosters strengthen that protection significantly. In the event that additional measures are needed, we will be prepared. We’re working with Pfizer, Moderna, and J&J to develop contingency plans for modifications to vaccines or boosters if they’re needed,” Zients said.

Zients also confirmed that the US Food and Drug Administration believes that “the high-volume PCR and rapid antigen tests widely used in the US will be effective in detecting the variant.”

Those comments come after Dr. Anthony Fauci said in an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper Monday that PCR tests and some rapid antigen tests, but maybe not all antigen tests, would be able to detect the variant.

Zients continued to urge adults to receive their booster shots, key to the administration’s current strategy of protecting Americans from the emerging variant. 

The administration, Zients added, is planning for how to support the manufacturers through the process, if needed, and how to “rapidly get shots in arms.”

“And we know how to do that, given the experience we’ve had in the last year,” Zients said, adding that the administration would deploy federal pharmacy programs, set up mass vaccination sites, and go to community health centers and clinics. 

“All that type of planning is part of our contingency planning so we could get shots in arms efficiently and effectively,” he said. 

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has pledged to offer Covid-19 booster shots to everyone eligible by the end of January, amid fears over rising cases of the Omicron variant. In order to reach this target, Johnson pledged to double efforts to expand the booster rollout, including recruiting military personnel to administer more jabs. 

“We’re going to be throwing everything at it in order to ensure that everyone eligible is offered that booster in, as I say, just over two months,” Johnson said. 

Johnson acknowledged a sense of “frustration” that may be lingering with the new variant, however he reassured that, despite the feeling that “we could be going through all this all over again,” the country is “measurably better than it was a year ago.”

“What we’re doing is taking some proportionate precautionary measures while our scientists crack the Omicron code,” Johnson said. 

Health Secretary Sajid Javid said 18 million booster doses have been delivered across the UK and added that Britain’s booster program is “going on steroids.” He urged people to get vaccinated to “give ourselves the best chance of a Christmas with our loved ones.” 

Once the Omicron coronavirus variant is identified in the United States, news of that detection will likely come from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said Tuesday.

“As soon as they get the information, they will be very transparent about it,” he continued.

There is no way the Omicron coronavirus variant can be absolutely prevented from spreading to the United States, but travel restrictions can help “buy time,” Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said Tuesday.

“So, it gives you a little bit of time to try and prepare yourself, to get your diagnostics all set,” Fauci said. “But also, to get people to get vaccinated, and those who are vaccinated to get boosted.”

A further eight cases of the coronavirus Omicron variant have been identified in England, bringing the total number of cases in the UK to 22, a spokesperson for the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) told CNN Tuesday. 

“We have now identified cases in the East Midlands, East of England, London and North West. UKHSA is carrying out targeted testing at locations where the positive cases were likely to be infectious,” the statement added. 

Nine cases have also been identified in Scotland – five in the Lanarkshire area and four in the Greater Glasgow and Clyde area, the UKHSA said. 

UKHSA Chief Executive, Dr. Jenny Harries, said “it is very likely that we will find more cases over the coming days, as we are seeing in other countries globally, and as we increase case detection through focused contact tracing.”

Earlier on Tuesday it was confirmed that a UK university student was among the eight people in England with the variant.

A University of Nottingham spokesperson told CNN Tuesday: “Whilst we do not ordinarily comment on individual cases, we can confirm that a student is among the increasing number of people reporting cases of the Omicron variant nationwide.” 

“The student has been off campus and self-isolating throughout the period of infection. We are supporting them in liaison with the public health authorities and wish them a speedy recovery,” the spokesperson added.