SciShow explains what the Omicron variant means for the pandemic's future

It's time for a pandemic update from SciShow, What Omicron Means for the Pandemic’s Future.

New variants of SARS-CoV-2 have emerged throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, with the latest one being Omicron. We’re still trying to learn about its effects and what it means for the overall course of the pandemic, but here’s what we know right now.

On the one hand, the individual risks for an infection seem to be less with lower per case chances of hospitalization and death. On the other, Omicron infects more people, appears to evade immune responses more often, and can re-infect people. The bottom line is that a smaller proportion of a much larger number can still result in more hospitalizations and death. That's one reason why I'm glad I got my booster shot, as I reported in Vox, TODAY, and ABC News look back at 2021. May I serve as a good example to my readers, in addition to helping provide accurate and timely information about COVID-19.