Omicron variant: should you be concerned?

The new covid variant omicron has quickly overtaken delta as the dominant strain of Covid-19 in multiple countries, which now includes the US. New data released Dec. 20 shows omicron is responsible for 73 percent of new Covid-19 infections nationally during the week end Dec. 18; up from just 12.6 percent for the week prior. Bruce Farber, MD, chief of public health and epidemiology, and John D'Angelo, MD, senior vice president and executive director of emergency medicine services, discuss what is known so far about the more contagious Covid variant, how health systems are preparing, and urge the public to get vaccinated — and even more importantly to get a booster.  Read more from Dr. Farber on the omicron variant. Chapters: 00:54 - Omicron becomes dominant Covid variant 02:09 - How concerned should we be? 02:44 - Handling a Covid surge 03:36 - Improved Covid care 04:20 - How contagious is omicron? 05:50 - Covid reinfection rate 06:17 - Boosters protect against omicron 07:00 - How severe is omicron? 08:08 - The science behind the Covid booster shot 09:15 - Omicron's impact on work 10:48 - Boosting vaccination rates 12:00 - Renewing mitigation efforts 14:15 - Lessons from the first wave in New York 15:40 - Predictive technology combats Covid-19 16:42 - Maintaining services during a surge 17:41 - Expanding Covid-19 testing 18:39 - Don’t wait, get the vaccine and booster Watch episodes of 20-Minute Health Talk on YouTube.