vaccinated. 200 million people fully vaccinated. we have more than that that have had at least one shot, and they re getting these booster shots as well. the president also reportedly told abc news, quote, i wish i would have thought about ordering 500 at-home tests two months ago. here s what scott gottlieb said about that on cnbc yesterday. we should have been doing this all along. we should have been getting more at-home tests available and give them away at consumers, buy four tests for $5, some small price, and limiting the number of sales they could get, but getting into the hands of consumers. that s what other countries are doing, subsidizing the tests. meanwhile new research is adding to the body of evidence that the new strain of omicron results in milder illness than previous strains. the research from scotland, england, and south africa shows
cnn s jim bittermann standing by live in paris covering europe for us. we begin with phil black in essex. good morning to you, phil. as i was saying, we continue to see, phil, cases skyrocketing, but the prime minister we heard in the last 24 hours was pretty adamant that no new restrictions will come into place. the fear is it will get worse as children return to school this week. reporter: indeed, that s right, isa. tremendous uncertainty. we are entering a phase now where we are likely to get a sense of just how the omicron wave is going to play out here in the uk, specifically in england. school is about to come back. on top of that we are about to see the consequence of the surging record numbers of the christmas and new year period. while omicron results in lower infection rates, it is still vast, you are going to inevitably big numbers of people
but there is good news. research teams in south africa, england, and scotland have found that omicron results in a milder form of the virus and a lower risk of hospitalization. and today the fda cleared a second at-home pill to combat covid. merck s antiviral, a day after approving pfizer s oral drug. merck s pill is in use for adults with high risk of being hospitalized. meanwhile, the omicron variant continues to rip through the country. the number of new cases has driven the seven-day higher than the delta variant peak in september. with the omicron wave accounting for nearly three quarters of new cases, americans are weighing the odds on christmas eve eve. with long lines to get a test all across the country and the holiday rush already under way. joining me the founder and ceo of advancing health equity. thank for being here, dr. blackstock. i did a costume change because it s christmas eve eve, and this