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Connecticut closely monitoring the Omicron variant

Governor Lamont says it's only strengthening his message to get vaccinated and get your booster

Connecticut is once again preparing for another COVID-19 variant: Omicron. Gov. Ned Lamont was asked about the potential threat Monday, and if residents can expect any new restrictions.

"Right now I don't foresee any new restrictions being necessary, we have a lot of capacity in our hospitals, people I hope are beginning to pick up the pace again on the booster shots," Lamont said. "I think that should be enough if people do the right thing."

RELATED: Gov. Lamont remains optimistic despite new COVID-19 variant

Connecticut's DPH Commissioner, Dr. Manisha Juthani, agrees. She says because since people are vaccinated now, compared to last year, the same level of restrictions isn't necessarily needed.

Connecticut's vaccination rate among the eligible population is an upwards of 80%, and now kids 5 to 11 years old are eligible for vaccines.

However, Juthani says she's watching the state's COVID-19 data closely, especially since Connecticut has seen the positivity rate and hospitalizations ticking up as of late.

"One of the things I'm going to be looking at very closely is our number of hospitalized patients, if we get to a point where our hospitals are at a breaking point and we have many Covid patients and non-Covid patients in there, that is something we'll have to closely watch," Dr. Juthani added.

Lamont though, is encouraging people to get vaccinated and get their booster shots. He says he spoke with the scientific community Sunday night about Omicron's potential impact.

"Including my friend Scott Gottlieb. He said something I thought encouraging, which is that the booster works almost immediately against this new variant," Lamont said.

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Gottlieb is a former FDA commissioner and is on the board of Pfizer, but many in the medical community say it's too early to know how effective the current vaccines are against Omicron.

"I think it's a little premature to make definitive conclusions, but I do suspect that the vaccines will offer some protection against these variants," Dr. David Banach with UConn Health told FOX61. "But whether that protection is going to be as high as other variants, we just don't have a clear answer to."

More questions remain- is it more transmissible? Does it cause more severe disease? Doctor Banach says it's just a wait and see game at this point.

"Unfortunately, we don't have clear answers to those questions at this point. It's something we've got to have a close eye on and I know scientists are working very closely to try and understand those questions," Banach added. "Hopefully in the coming days we'll have some more answers."

Doctor Banach's advice -- there's a lot of components of the immune system that are induced by the vaccines, so if you have the opportunity get vaccinated and get your booster so you can go into the next couple of months with as much protection as possible.

RELATED: Local health experts provide insight on the COVID-19 Omicron variant

Jenn Bernstein is an anchor at FOX61 News. She can be reached at jbernstein@fox61.com. Follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. 

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