Scientists race to answer the question: Will vaccines protect us against omicron?
There's serious concern about the effectiveness of vaccines against the omicron strain. But there's also reason to be hopeful — especially for those who've had a booster.
Researchers in Botswana and South Africa just detected the omicron variant a few weeks ago, but already many scientists are predicting that the efficacy of the vaccines will likely take a hit, probably a big hit, when it comes to stopping infections of omicron. And more breakthrough infections will likely occur if (and that's a big if) omicron spreads here in the U.S.
At the same time, there's hope that vaccines will still offer good protection against severe disease and hospitalization, especially with a third dose.
