SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Shanghai just ordered the city's largest COVID-19 lockdown in two years.
The lockdown comes as health officials monitor the spike in cases due to Omicron variant BA-2.
History shows the United States is usually about four weeks behind Asia and Europe when it comes to COVID-19. ABC10 Health Expert Dr. Payal Kohli said when omicron first arrived overseas, it took more than four weeks for it to be detected in the US. Now that mask mandates are lifted across the country, BA-2 has made itself dominate.
"Nearly 60% of cases now are of the BA2 variant, which the vaccines don't offer as much protection against, even as compared to the BA-1 or the original omicron variant," Kohli said. "We also are seeing people farther out from their booster doses as time goes on, so we know that immunity is going to go down. So, I suspect that, yes, we will certainly see an increase in the number of BA-2 cases that are occurring. Whether it's actually going to happen in a surge remains a little bit up in the air."
Tuesday, the FDA approved another booster shot for those 50 and older. Kohli said with this additional protection, it could change whether the country sees a big spike in cases or if it looks like a long drawn out wave.
"If you haven't gotten your first booster shot after the first two, it's really, really, critically important that you go and get that," Kohli said. "If you live with somebody who's immunocompromised or you yourself have medical history, despite the fact that there's peer pressure to take off that mask sometimes, I would still advise that you make individual choices that are best for you and your family, so keep that mask up. Make sure that you don't feel pressured to have to take it down."
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