HARTFORD, Conn — Gov. Ned Lamont gave a sobering admission on Friday. He is already assuming that the troubling new omicron COVID-19 variant is already circulating here in Connecticut.
However, he said people should not panic because the tools the state already has in place will continue to work in the fight against COVID-19: distancing, masks and vaccines.
The infection rate is, “Ramping up,” said Gov. Lamont. “To say we are the lowest in the region gives no comfort at all.”
The new variant of COVID-19 has not been detected in Connecticut. As of Dec. 3, it has been detected in five states.
Experts say the current vaccines give protection against the new variant.
“The boosters are probably going to provide us with enough protection given that we don’t have alternatives right now," Dr. Howard Forman of the Yale School of Medicine said.
The vaccine makers are working on an omicron-specific vaccine, but it is still about four months away.
“Whether we need it or not is the real question right now. It could be that the vaccine or booster you’ve got is going to work very effectively against this variant as well, but we will be ready if it doesn’t,” said Lamont.
Lamont told FOX61 that unlike the first wave of COVID, things would have to get pretty bad to return to a lockdown.
“There would have to be such severe community spread and a sense that the people of Connecticut were not doing the right things on their own," he added.
He’s also not in favor of travel restrictions between the states.
“Our infection rate is so similar to what’s going on around the region that it doesn’t make any sense. It’s not very easy to enforce,” Lamont remarked.
The one thing the governor hasn’t completely taken off the table is another possible extension of his emergency powers beyond February.
“If the legislative leadership says, given what’s going on with the rising infection rates, we need to be nimble and move fast a little bit longer I would listen to it," he said.
In the meantime, medical experts said your best bet is to get boosted.
“We still have time to prepare. Anyone who’s not vaccinated should get vaccinated. Anyone who’s not boosted should get boosted. People should not rely on past infection immunity as being their protection because it is very unlikely that that is going to be enough protection,” explained Dr. Howard Forman.
Medical experts point out that unvaccinated people are five times more likely to get COVID-19 than a vaccinated person, 11 times more likely to be hospitalized and 33 times more likely to die.
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