Fauci Sounds Alarm About ‘Troublesome’ Omicron Variant: Profile Suggests It May ‘Evade’ Some Vaccine Antibodies

Dr. Anthony Fauci is sounding the alarm about the new Omicron Covid variant — which he’s calling “troublesome.”

Appearing on Meet the Press Sunday, the infectious disease expert said that early indications are that the Omicron variant could “evade” protection from both natural immunity and vaccines.

“The profile of the mutation strongly suggests that it’s going to have an advantage in transmissibility,” Fauci said. “And that it might evade immune protection that you would get, for example, from a monoclonal antibody or from the convalescent serum after a person’s been infected. And possibly against even some of the vaccine-induced antibodies.”

Fauci added, “It’s not necessarily that that’s going to happen, but it’s a strong indication that we really need to be prepared for that.”

That said, Fauci stressed that the emergence of the Omicron variant only serves to increase the importance of getting vaccinated.

“It may not be as good in protecting against initial infection,” Fauci explained. “But it has a very important impact on diminishing the likelihood that you’re going to get a severe outcome from it. So this is a clarion call, as far as I’m concerned, of saying let’s put aside all these differences we have and say, ‘If you’re not vaccinated, get vaccinated. If you’re fully vaccinated, get boosted. And get the children vaccinated.'”

Watch above, via NBC.