omicron

The U.S. on Wednesday authorized updated COVID-19 boosters for children as young as 5, seeking to expand protection ahead of an expected winter wave.

Pfizer is asking the Food and Drug Administration to expand use of its updated COVID-19 booster shot to children ages 5 to 11.

President Joe Biden will deliver remarks on Thursday highlighting arrival of new COVID-19 vaccine boosters that have been updated to target the most common omicron strains currently in circulation.

Pfizer has asked U.S. regulators to authorize its combination COVID-19 vaccine that adds protection against the newest omicron strains: the BA.4 and BA.5 variants.

While COVID-19 cases are declining overall, experts are worried the trend could change due to the two new subvariants.

COVID super dodgers, people who have never been infected with COVID-19, are becoming an even more exclusive club now that the BA.5 omicron subvariant has taken over.

The omicron variants have shown a remarkable ability to get around the protection offered by infection and vaccination.

San Diego County is seeing spikes in COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations, prompting local public health officials to encourage residents to be more vigilant.

San Diego County health officials have been urging caution due to a concerning spike in COVID-19 patients at local hospitals.

NBC 7’s Melissa Adan spoke with a Scripps researcher about the recent data they’ve found in the wastewater research.

The subvariants are now responsible for 70% of new coronavirus cases, and their immunity to existing vaccines has concerned scientists. Here’s what you need to know about the subvariants.

Coachella was mostly outdoors, but the festival did not require masks or vaccination.

A new omicron mutant that is a descendent of the earlier “stealth omicron” has quickly gained ground in the United States. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday that it was responsible for 29% of new COVID-19 infections nationally last week.

The new BA.2 omicron subvariant, nicknamed the “son of omicron” by one local expert, is responsible for surges in parts of Europe, Asia and, now, California and San Diego County. Dr. Davey Smith, the chief of infectious diseases and global public health at UC San Diego, talked to NBC 7 about the latest coronavirus mutation.

Incoming White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha talks about the new omicron sub-variant BA.2 and whether the U.S. will see the kind of surge that Europe and Asia are experiencing.

Although cases have peaked in San Diego, different variants are expected to continue popping up.
NBC 7’s Melissa Adan reports.

Multiple cases of BA.2, the omicron subvariant of COVID-19, have been detected in San Diego County since Christmas, according to local health officials.

Some school districts in California like San Diego Unified are shifting to a new type of coronavirus contact tracing in the hopes of keeping more children in the classroom, but parents should get ready to receive more notifications that their child has been exposed.

With omicron spreading like wildfire, individual contact tracing is becoming impractical, according to experts, reports NBC 7’s Rory Devine.

Some health experts say we could be on the verge of a “new phase” in the pandemic, but it’s too soon to drop our guard