FACT FINDERS: Will omicron go away quickly?

TUCSON, Ariz. (KOLD News 13) - Since the omicron surge came on quickly, will it go away quickly too?

Dr. Sean Elliott with Tucson Medical Center says experts are looking to South Africa for some indicators as that country is ahead of the U.S. in terms of the omicron variant. He says South Africa had a short, sharp spike and is already recovering several weeks in. While the hope is we do the same here in the U.S., he said we might hit a different hurdle.

”Major caveat, South Africa has a different population of young adults who are not vaccinated, at-risk, who are healthier and able to get past this more rapidly. The United States, not quite so much,” said Dr. Elliott.

Still, Dr. Elliott says the hope is we will hit a significant peak and then get into lower numbers at least sooner than with delta.

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