Marion County Health Department Administrator Melissa Mallow says the department is waiting further information before making any recommendations specifically towards the new omicron variant of COVID-19.
Mallow says health departments around the state held a Zoom call with State Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike earlier this week where she admitted there were a lot of unanswered questions because the variant was too new. Mallow reports at this time they are not locally testing any of positive COVID-19 tests to
determine if it is the new variant.
The health department is still recommending vaccinations for those 12 and above as well as booster shots for all adults previously vaccinated as a way to protect yourself against serious illness from COVID-19. One of the current unknowns is how effective the vaccine will be against the new variant.
The omicron variant has now been discovered in at least five states just a day after the first known US case was found in California. While many of the cases are tied to travel to South Africa where the new variant was confirmed, there are some exceptions.
Mallow says their rising number of cases in Marion County is partially tied to the virus infecting more members of households, with sometimes four or five people in a home now coming down sick with COVID.
