The first COVID-19 vaccine was authorized for emergency use last year after eight months of the virus being in the US.
The first of the two dose was given to Sandra Lindsay, a New York nurse.
Now, millions of people have take a step forward to help slow the spread of the virus.
Nationwide nearly 50 million people have tested positive for the virus since January 2020 and of those, about 800 thousand deaths were reported.
In 2020, the state of Washington reported a total of 797,000 cases and of those, 9,627 were deaths.
The Benton and Franklin Counties reported about 49,460 cases and nearly 570 deaths since March 2020.
As the Omicron variant continues to spread and people getting booster shots, people now worry if the booster could be enough to protect you from it.
I sat with Doctor Amy Person to talk about how booster shot could help protect against the new variant.
She says, “The early signs are encouraging that the booster dose will provide protection against Omicron, we just don’t know how long that protection will last and we don’t know that because not enough time has passed.”
It has been one year since the Pfizer vaccine was first given out and now the company is announcing that an anti-viral pill is still being tested for approval.
Dr. Person says the new treatments being released are useful when someone is infected and it could reduce your chances of being hospitalized.
With the holidays, be sure to continue safety measures and following CDC guidelines while also making sure to get tested for COVID-19.
as far as the Omicron variant, Dr. Person says, “it isn’t a question of, if Omicron will show up in Benton and Franklin County but just when.”
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Get tested for the virus: Click here
