The U.S. set a new record high for COVID-19 hospitalizations on Tuesday due to ever-increasing case loads, staff shortages and a continuing surge in new infections.
U.S. poised to break record 142,000 covid-19 hospitalizations https://t.co/LtN8wgCpDL
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) January 11, 2022
From the Washington Post:
Tuesday’s total of 145,982 people in U.S. hospitals with covid-19, which includes 4,462 children, passed the record of 142,273 set on Jan. 14, 2021, during the previous peak of the pandemic in this country.
But the highly transmissible omicron variant threatens to obliterate that benchmark. If models of omicron’s spread prove accurate — even the researchers who produce them admit forecasts are difficult during a pandemic — current numbers may seem small in just a few weeks.
Disease modelers are predicting total hospitalizations in the 275,000 to 300,000 range when the peak is reached, probably later this month.
Read the full report here.
In related news, Pfizer is moving ahead with plans for manufacturing 500-100 million doses of an omicron-specific vaccine.
Pfizer is racing ahead with plans to manufacture 50 million to 100 million doses of a new omicron-specific version of its coronavirus vaccine, a reflection of rising concerns that current vaccine formulations may need to be tweaked for the new threat.
https://t.co/SzURHG2Z8P— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) January 11, 2022