Health policy experts are still pushing vaccinations as the best way to deal with the omicron wave, along with other mitigation measures.


What You Need To Know

  • Doctor says there is a "milder therefore OK" misconception about omicron 

  • Studies showing the benefits of vaccination are mounting

  • Florida's vaccination rate for kids 5 to 11 is less than 15% for the fully vaccinated

While studies show omicron is milder than the delta variant, experts said this has caused a misconception: milder therefore OK.

Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital Dr. Juan Dumois explained why that's not correct.

"When we say the omicron is milder or less severe than delta, what we really mean is that when you look at all the people who catch omicron that the likelihood of ending up at a hospital, of ending up on a ventilator or dying, those likelihoods are lower than we saw with delta. But they're not zero, they're nowhere even close to zero,” said Dumois.  “So that's why we still see everyday people being admitted to the hospital, admitted to the ICU and dying of omicron."

Studies showing the benefits of vaccination are mounting.

Just published in the New England Journal of Medicine, research found vaccines were 94% effective at preventing hospitalizations and 98% effective at preventing serious medical interventions for teens.

Also, recently published by the CDC, a study found the risk of Multiple Inflammatory Syndrome in unvaccinated children because of COVID-19 is higher and more severe than the risk of myocarditis from the vaccine.

In fact, for children 5 to 11, the CDC also recently published safety data on potential myocarditis from vaccination.

They found 12 cases out of more than 8.6 million doses administered.

WEB EXTRA INTERVIEW: Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital Dr. Juan Dumois

Dumois is counseling parents about the best ways to protect their children amid this week’s mention by federal health officials about the inevitability of getting infected with COVID-19.

"When children go to school and the exposures are inevitable, vaccination is one of the surest ways to protect our kids,” Dumois said.  “You can't do social distancing in the schools and masks are inconsistent. Masking works best when everybody does it."

Florida's vaccination rate for kids 5 to 11 is less than 15% for the fully vaccinated.

Teens are at about 50% fully vaccinated with about 22% of those boosted as well.