record set almost a year ago of 142,000 hospitalizations. even more concerning, child hospitalizations are hitting new records as the omicron variant spreads. cnn s polo sandoval is watching all of this unfold for us. so, polo, what is the latest? reporter: fred, it s clear that federal health authorities are urging those who have not yet boosted after they have completed their initial series to get boosted as soon as they can. that s one of the reasons why the fda and cdc has amended that emergency use authorization that s been standing for some time, basically shortening that period of time from the initial vaccine series up to to that moment when they have to get the booster. now at five months versus the original six. so that s certainly something that they hope will lead to an increase in vaccination numbers and, of course, number of people being boosted because when you look at the number of hospitalizations, certainly continues to increase and the results have been staffing
they created here is drive-thru testing site staffed in part by the national guard, chris. doctors i speak with say, look, we expected a post-holiday surge, but there are some things that we just could not prepare for with this omicron variant. take a listen. we were expecting it, we were prepared for it. i think what happened that no one could have could have predicted was how quickly the omicron variant spreads. it spreads so quickly. reporter: and another thing, chris, that dr. hall wants all americans to know is that the vast majority of the patients in here who may be on oxygen, who are isolated from their family and frankly scared, they are unvaccinated, chris. and we keep saying that. people seem to still not get the message sometimes. so, dr. patel, look, i want to talk about this virginia, you know, push back by big school
kindly redirected to the facility behind me. hospital officials were expecting a surge after the holidays but there s one thing they were not prepared for. take a listen. we were expecting it, we were prepared for it. i think what happened that no one could have predicted was how quickly the omicron variant spreads. it s the community spread. it is over the dinner table, it s at the restaurant, it s in the grocery stores, it s those simple interactions that probably last two surges would not have been significant. and now for the broken record part of this segment. 65 to 70% of the individuals hospitalized in this health system are unvaccinated. can t be a broken record enough on that. get vaccinated! okay. so dr. hilton, the good news, and i want to focus on the good news for a moment, is we are
the coronavirus winter surge is pushing hospitals to the brink. more than 15,000 national guard are deployed to help beleaguered medical facilities across the country. hospitalizations are at an all-time high during the pandemic. more than 155,000 icus are filling up, more than a dozen states reporting less than 15% remaining capacity. as the omicron variant spreads, the cdc is updating guidance to slow infections. they recommend wearing n95 or kn95 masks which gives the highest level of protection from the airborne disease. the biden administration also announcing plans to offer masks for free, and pledging better access to testing. starting today, americans can get at home tests for free through private insurance. let s talk about all things covid with dr. jeremy foust,
this state. yeah. every state and every district within a state has a different way of doing it, which doesn t help. but we ll continue to stay on this story. ismael el-amin, thank you so much for talking with us. appreciate it. well, the u.s. cdc is considering updating its mask guidance given how easily the omicron variant spreads. the washington post reports the agency is weighing a recommendation that n95 or kn95 masks should be worn instead of cloth masks. experts say the three-ply cloth masks don t provide enough filtration. but some people don t like the kn95 or n95 masks because they fit snug and may seem harder to breathe through. u.s. health insurance companies will have to start covering the cost of at-home covid tests starting saturday. people can buy them in stores or online and have them paid for at the time of purchase or by