Dr. Siegel says vaccines should provide protection from new coronavirus variants
Fox News medical contributor Dr. Marc Siegel provides insight on the new omicron coronavirus variant.
Blue states are predominantly grappling with coronavirus outbreaks as the omicron variant spreads across the world, while mostly red states see the lowest daily rate of new cases.
Eric Aviles, 6, receives the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine from pharmacist Sylvia Uong at a pediatric vaccine clinic for children ages 5 to 11 set up at Willard Intermediate School in Santa Ana, Calif., on Nov. 9. (AP/Jae C. Hong)
"Sooner or later, we're going to see cases of this new variant here in the U.S.," President Biden said Monday at the White House. "We'll have to face this new threat like we've faced those that have come before it."
He stressed the importance of being vaccinated and said people must "understand that you have to get your vaccine, you have to get the shot, have to get the booster."
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As the U.S. braces for the new variant, states with the highest daily rate of news cases are predominantly led by Democrats who have long embraced mandates on masking and vaccines.
As of Monday, Michigan has the highest daily rate of new cases per 100,000 residents with 85, according to the New York Times, followed by New Hampshire with 73, New Mexico with 67, and Vermont and Minnesota both with 61. All the states in the top five voted for president Biden in the 2020 election.
Michigan had some of the most strict coronavirus lockdowns last year as the virus spread across the country, which resulted in bars and restaurants being shut down across the state and eventual protests at the Capitol building in Lansing.
Vermont, meanwhile, has the highest vaccination rate in the country, with nearly 72% of its residents being fully vaccinated, according to CDC data this month. And the surge in New Mexico comes after Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham twice extended the state's indoor mask mandate this fall through Dec. 10. and also expanded booster eligibility of state residents.
When looking at that statistic over a weeklong period ending this past Sunday, Minnesota leads the nation with 426 new cases per 100,000 residents, followed by Michigan with 388.6, Wisconsin with 387.7, North Dakota with 361.5 and New Hampshire with 360.2, data from the CDC shows. All the states in the top five voted for president Biden in the 2020 election.
A man walks through a deserted part of Johannesburg's OR Tambo's airport in South Africa on Monday. The World Health Organization urged countries around the world not to impose flight bans on southern African nations due to concern over the new omicron variant. (AP/Jerome Delay)
On the other end of the chart, Louisiana, Texas, Alabama, Hawaii and Florida round out the states with lowest daily rate of new cases per 100,000 residents, with numbers ranging from 8 to 3, the New York Times reports. All but one of the states in the bottom five voted for Donald Trump in the 2020 election.
In the CDC’s weekly metric, Hawaii, Georgia, Texas, Louisiana and Florida comprise that group.
Those states are also testing fewer residents per 100,000 compared to some that are reported to be amongst those suffering the most severe outbreaks.
Texas, for example, is only testing 125 residents per 100,000 as opposed to states in the top 5 such as Minnesota and New Hampshire, which are testing 492 and 420 per 100,000, respectively, according to Becker’s Hospital Review.
Most of the governors is those states have moved away from mandates concerning the coronavirus.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, for example, has signed legislation limiting vaccine mandates for workers in his state, has repeatedly slammed the federal government and other states' strict regulations on the coronavirus, and has dubbed the state as one of freedom.
President Joe Biden speaks about the COVID-19 variant named omicron, in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on Monday. (AP/Evan Vucci)
"We were here to celebrate a great city in the state of Florida, a freedom city, and it's important that when you have the federal government overreaching, like Joe Biden's doing, that we signed legislation to protect Floridians," DeSantis told Fox News earlier this month after he signed a package of anti-COVID-19 vaccine mandate bills in Brandon. "Doing it here in Brandon I think is especially meaningful because I think people here really appreciate it."
Biden has swiped at DeSantis and other Republican governors who have resisted strict mandates, such as Gov. Greg Abbott, telling them in August to "get out of the way" and that "their decisions are not good for their constituents."
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Although there have not yet been any confirmed omicron COVID-19 cases on U.S. soil, Dr. Anthony Fauci said over the weekend that he would not be shocked to learn that it’s already here.
"We have not detected it yet," he told NBC’s ‘Weekend Today’ show. "But, when you have a virus that is showing this degree of transmissibility and you're already having travel-related cases that they've noted in Israel and Belgium and in other places – when you have a virus like this, it almost invariably is ultimately going to go, essentially, all over."
Fox News’ Julia Musto contributed to this report.
