Scott Gottlieb: Half Of All Americans May Get Infected by Omicron Variant By Mid February

Dr. Scott Gottlieb provided some key insight on the current state of the coronavirus pandemic that, at first blush may seem like bad news, but may actually foretell the end of the pandemic.

The former head of the FDA under the Trump administration has consistently provided clear-eyed analysis of the challenges presented by Covid-19 and, on occasion, flouted much of the sturm and drang and dire warnings one sees from other medical experts on cable news.

During a Friday morning appearance on CNBC’s Squawk Box, Dr. Gottlieb suggested that as many as half of all Americans will have been infected by the Omicron variant by mid-February, which given its reported milder symptoms, may be the most effective way for the herd immunity the nation needs to move forward from a pandemic state to an endemic one.

“Fifteen million people have been diagnosed with Omicron,” Gottlieb said. “If you assume that we are only diagnosing one in five cases, probably upwards of 23 to 25 percent of Americans have been infected. We may get 40 to 50 percent of Americans infected with this by mid-February.”

While omicron has brought a sharp spike of infections across the nation, the death rate has stayed flat, or in many cases, gone down, which is evidence that the variant, while still potentially deadly for those with weakened immune systems or comorbidities, is far less life-threatening to most Americans.

Watch above via CNBC.

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