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Senior U.S. health officials are holding a Covid-19 press conference for the first time in more than a month as infections and hospitalizations grow as more transmissible omicron subvariants spread across the country.
Dr. Ashish Ja will for the first time lead a briefing as the White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator. White House Chief Medical Adviser Dr. Anthony Foci and Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Dr. Rachel Valensky will, as usual, provide updates.
According to the CDC, the U.S. reported more than 94,000 new infections on average as of Monday, up 25% from the week before. According to the CDC, the number of hospitalizations has also increased by 18% over the past week: an average of about 3,000 people came in with Covid every day.
Due to the growing number of infections and hospitalizations, this week the Office of Food and Drug Administration approved the introduction of a booster dose of Pfizer for children aged 5 to 11 years. The FDA may allow the Covid vaccine for children under 5, the only group left in the U.S. that is not eligible as early as next month.
