bring something that saves lives, that saves money there is also a financial reward. that saves money there is also a financial reward. meanwhile the uk has approved financial reward. meanwhile the uk has approved a financial reward. meanwhile the uk has approved a new financial reward. meanwhile the uk has approved a new antibody - financial reward. meanwhile the uk has approved a new antibody drug l has approved a new antibody drug which dramatically cuts the risk of severe illness. initial tests suggest it will work against omicron. it s notjust vaccines but treatments which will end this pandemic. meanwhile in south africa the new coronavirus variant omicron has now become dominant and is driving a sharp increase in new infections. over the last week the daily number of new covid cases has increased fourfold, from less than 3,000 to more than 11,500 three quarters of which are omicron. still deaths and hospitalisations are rising at a lower rate. our africa corresponden
in the past hour, joe biden has been outlining measures to tackle new coronavirus variant omicron. in a statement, president biden unveiled his action plan for the winter months as the country records its second case of 0micron. this new variant is cause for concern, but not panic. we knew there d be cases of this 0micron here in united states, and it s here. but we have the best tools, the best vaccines in the world and the best medicine and the best scientists in the world. we re going to fight this variant with science and speed, not chaos and confusion. just like we beat back covid 19 in the spring, a more powerful variant, the delta variant in the summer and fall. as a result, we enter this winter from a position of strength compared to where america was last winter. last christmas, fewer than 1% of americans adults were fully vaccinated. this christmas, that number will be 72%, including more than 86% of seniors, the most vulnerable population.
mutations than delta. what risks does the more mutated strain pose to the public? there s just more chances that those mutations could confer some increased transmissibility or increased disease with the mutations the virus has. but we don t know these mutations necessarily make the disease that much more transmissible. it appears that it probably does, but we don t know that for sure. and we don t know that it causes severe disease. it appears that the case reports we re getting suggest mal-disease but that is not substantiated yet either. a lot to unpack here, a lot to a wait and see approach, which is nerve-racking. this is where we are. yes. dr. suzanne a hill, thank you so much for coming on early start. appreciate it. thanks so much. an important programming note with the omicron variant raising new questions, anderson cooper and dr. sanjay gupta come together with dr. anthony fauci for an all-new cnn global town
without incident. preliminary investigation revealed that the weapon used in the shooting was purchased on november 26th, four days ago, by the boy s father. reporter: a hand gun was recovered at the scene. authorities believe the shooter fired between 15 and 20 rounds. now, authorities are still working to get to that motive. they tell us that they are still in the early stages of their investigation. on tuesday they executed a search warrant at the shooter s home hoping to uncover any possible clue they can to get to the reason why the shooter went to school on tuesday, opening fire on his fellow students. christine, laura? just terrible. our thoughts are with everybody there in michigan this morning. right. everyone who travels in the united states may soon have to be tested for covid one day before their flight. the biden administration is also considering testing all travelers, including u.s. citizens, after they return home. the new coronavirus variant omicron has prompte
moderna s c.e.o. told the financial times, if omicron does, indeed, diminish protection from vaccines boosters should reduce dramatically the gap. reporter: this variant was first detected in southern africa, now dominant down there. what we are presenting to primary health care practitioners are extremely mild, mild to moderate. so these patients that don t need to be hospitalized for now. reporter: still, dr. fauci cautioning against such anecdotal accounts. most of those are in younger individuals. we believe that it is too soon to tell of what the level of severity is. reporter: remember, this will likely not be the last coronavirus variant. omicron is like a wake up call, as though we needed another wake up call, to vaccinate the world. one of the best ways to keep americans safe is actually to vaccinate the world. reporter: because the more the virus spreads, the more it mutates.