Omicron Variant

NBC 6’s Alyssa Hyman reports on the latest warning by the White House COVID-19 task force on the new Omicron variant that officials say is very contagious

Pfizer says tweaking its COVID-19 vaccine to better target the omicron variant is safe and boosts protection.

Coachella was mostly outdoors, but the festival did not require masks or vaccination.

The Justice Department said Wednesday that it would be appealing a ruling which lifted the travel face mask mandate, after the CDC determined masks continue to be necessary for the public good.

Omicron BA.2, also known as “stealth omicron,” has been the dominant strain of COVID-19 in the U.S. since March 2022.

The CDC announced Wednesday that it was extending the national mask requirement for public transportation systems through May 3 as it monitors an uptick in COVID-19 cases in parts of the country.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention outlined new measures for communities where COVID cases are dropping on Friday, meaning healthy people in these areas can take a break from wearing masks

Just as omicron is releasing us from its grip, infectious disease experts see another potential COVID-19 strain on the horizon.

As omicron loosens its grip, infectious disease experts see another potential COVID-19 strain on the horizon. NBC 6’s Marissa Bagg reports

The omicron wave that assaulted the United States this winter also bolstered its defenses, leaving enough protection against the coronavirus that future spikes will likely require much less — if any — dramatic disruption to society.

“When we reduce these measures, we increase our vulnerability of having transmission continue to go high,” says Jessica Malaty Rivera, an epidemiologist at the Pandemic Prevention Institute. She joined LX News to talk about mask restrictions and what loosening them could mean for the nation.

Experts say it’s too early to know whether people infected with the omicron variant will develop long COVID

The highly infectious Omicron variant of COVID-19 was far worse than expected, says NBC News medical contributor Dr. John Torres. Despite symptoms being less severe, the variant was so infectious that absolute numbers of cases still skyrocketed and thus hospitals were overwhelmed. But Torres and health officials are hopeful there will be a decline in hospitalizations and deaths in a...

Even in the third calendar year of the pandemic, it seems we keep failing the test of getting COVID tests in the hands of Americans. From the beginning, we bungled COVID testing. The CDC wanted everyone to use only their test, but the test didn’t end up working. We had to play catch up as new variants and society’s...

Moderna is testing an omicron-specific COVID-19 vaccine booster.

Scientists and health officials are keeping their eyes on a descendant of the omicron variant that has been found in at least 40 countries.

Pfizer has begun a study comparing its original COVID-19 vaccine with doses specially tweaked to match the omicron variant

COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations are starting to fall about as fast as they surged six weeks ago.

The omicron surge appears to be fading in South Florida, with cases and hospitalizations trending down. NBC 6’s Marissa Bagg reports

Food banks are experiencing a critical shortage of volunteers as the omicron variant frightens people away from group activities.