her fight to be believed and the holiday mystery. the heartfelt thank you card inspiring america. this is nbc "nightly news" with lester holt. good evening it was just a month ago a covid variant of concern was reported out of south africa. days later, it got a name, omicron. and tonight it's now spreading in all 50 u.s. states, driving a wave of new infections the cdc reports the seven-day average has climbed by 25% over the prior week while authorities are urging americans who may be on the move this holiday to get tested, lines remain and supplies are short. one chain of walk-up urgent care clinics in new york temporarily closing some of its locations over staff shortages. tonight doctors do have a new weapon to heal the sick, a covid treatment. a pill has now been authorized for emergency use by the fda. at the same time another treatment is running in short supply miguel almaguer leads our coverage tonight >> reporter: the fda's emergency use authorization officially clears the way for the nation's first covid antiviral pill if taken within five days of the onset of symptoms, it could reduce hospitalizations by 88% for those americans already considered high risk with tens of millions likely to become eligible, the treatment, which appears to fight off omicron, now found in all 50 states, could be available in just days but supply will be tight, at least for now. >> as quickly as pfizer gets the pills manufactured and delivered, we will immediately provide them to states and jurisdictions for distribution. >> reporter: while a covid pill is considered a pandemic game changer, it will not beat the crushing wave of patients flooding hospitals today, falling into the depths of a deadly winter surge, the new numbers should be alarming if you're not vaccinated. >> it just feels like no one is listening. i'm begging you to please get vaccinated. >> reporter: for the second day in a row, new cases have topped 200,000. nearly 1,400 people are dying every 24 hours, with the unvaccinated paying the greatest toll, dr. fauci suggested they be disinvited from holiday gatherings. >> i think we're dealing with a serious enough situation right now that if there is an unvaccinated person, i would say, i'm very sorry but not this time. maybe another time when this is all over. >> reporter: as several states hit new pandemic records for cases and hospitalizations, medical centers are now scrambling to secure the only monoclonal antibody therapies that appear to be effective against omicron. though two new studies out of the u.k. show the variant appears to be less severe, it can still be deadly. in the new york area, it's accounting for upwards of 90% of all new cases. tonight in states like maine and arizona, the national guard and federal response teams are just arriving at hospitals. >> we would just cry all the way home from work every day the personal toll is very difficult there is no shying away from that. it's truly horrible. >> reporter: with california moving to require all health care workers get boosted by february, states and cities are trying to fend off new covid closures disruptions to the nhl season mean their players won't participate in the olympics it comes as families ask, should they gather for christmas. >> so much about the safety of your gathering has less to do with the plane ride or the train ride that you are going to do to get there and very much to do with the behavior that you have in the week prior to your gathering. >> reporter: tonight our second pandemic christmas in many ways resembling our first >> and, miguel, worries about exposure we're just learning a white house official who was with the vice president has tested positive what can you tell us about that >> reporter: yeah, lester that white house official who tested positive was with the vice president throughout the day yesterday. the vice president has since tested negative and will test again on friday following cdc guidelines, she is continuing with her schedule because she is fully vaccinated, boosted and tested negative lester >> miguel almaguer tonight, thank you. overseas we're seeing countries taking very different approaches to confronting the omicron wave while in south africa tonight, an encouraging new study shows omicron brings a much lower risk for hospitalization. richard engel with more now from london >> reporter: across the world tonight, no one seems to have figured out how to deal with omicron. in the netherlands, all bars, restaurants and non-essential shops are closed since this week the nation is locked down christmas parties canceled but in paris, you'd hardly know there is omicron. even though france could soon have 100,000 cases a day. authorities saying restrictions won't stop the spread, so they're focussed on reducing serious cases. italy is also letting people celebrate christmas on, but new year's eve celebrations are off italy's prime minister today said, vaccines remain the best tool of defense three-quarters of the deaths are among the unvaccinated in israel early and aggressive with vaccines, the government is now recommending fourth boosters to people over 60. but the world health organization today warned mass boosting could prolong the pandemic, saying vaccines need to be distributed to unvaccinated areas, hike in africa >> it's, frankly, difficult to understand how a year since the first vaccines were administered, three in four health workers in africa remain unvaccinated. >> reporter: but in africa, like everywhere, there is vaccine hesitancy. today in nigeria, the government dumped a million expired doses into landfills potential good news, in south africa where the omicron variant was first discovered, cases are declining as rapidly as they initially spread and a new study there suggests omicron is 80% less likely to cause hospitalizations than the delta variant. lester >> richard, thank you and there is growing concern here of course for omicron that comes in the middle of the peak travel period this week with americans on the move by road and air in what appear to be pandemic record-breaking numbers. here's tom costello with that. >> reporter: for the airlines, it all comes down to the final christmas push every single hour, more than 100,000 travelers are passing through airports nationwide coming off the runway in washington today, flight 2565 from dallas chalks under the wheels, and the countdown begins they've got just 45 minutes to turn this plane around for its next flight to orlando. two minutes after arrival, the cabin door opens at three minutes, the cargo door pops. a minute later, the first bags are on the belt just as 180 passengers start stepping into the jet bridge time is money. being on time a top priority. >> our number one job is to turn an airplane so speed is of the essence. it is so important everything we do is timed. >> reporter: the job here, sort the bags. priority bags, connecting bags. and then those that are staying here, get them to the carousel within 20 minutes. onboard the final passengers step off, and the ground crew steps on caterers and cleaning staff moving fast. while underneath, the fuel truck is hooking up in the cockpit, the arriving pilots are rotating out. >> i think 75% of the time we're changing aircrafts. >> reporter: american turns eight flights a day at each gate here at reagan national, more than any other airport. >> active duty u.s. military personnel, welcome aboard. >> reporter: 20 minutes after arrival, the next flight's passengers are already boarding as the next first officer does his inspection walk around. >> i'm here as sort of that last -- that last check to make sure everything is the way it should be. >> reporter: ten minutes before departure, the cabin door closes again. blue skies helping the flight to orlando to leave on time. >> what a tightly choreographed operation. so, tom, what does the national air space look like tonight as we head to christmas >> just checked with the faa. really, very few delays nationwide today. we have some wind around new york. we've got deicing up in maine fewer than 400 delays right now. that's pretty good for a late december thursday -- wednesday. back to you, lester. >> all right tom costello, thanks in colorado tonight, growing pressure on the governor to address what many see as an injustice. a prison sentence of more than 100 years for a truck driver convicted for his role in a deadly crash. erin mclaughlin has that story >> reporter: a fiery crash killing four in april 2019 outside denver now calls for clemency for the man found responsible. >> no more injustice. >> reporter: last week truck driver rogel aguilera-mederos was sentenced to 110 years in prison. for the fatal collision that involved 28 vehicles >> oh, my god! >> reporter: colorado law requires minimum prison terms for certain crimes and mandates they be served back-to-back. rogel aguilera-mederos was convicted on 27 counts, including vehicular homicide >> i wish that god would have taken me. >> reporter: rogel aguilera-mederos says his brakes failed. prosecutors say he should have diverted to run-away truck ramps. and online petitions signed by nearly five million people is putting pressure on the governor jared polis to reduce the sentence immediately the prosecution, some victims' families, even the judge agrees it's too much. >> if i had the discretion, it would not be my sentence. >> reporter: the district attorney has now filed a motion to reduce the sentence and is facing controversy over this facebook post by a deputy da who worked on the case showing. a brake shoe engraved with the case number she says it was a gift her boss says the post and the trophy were in very poor taste. >> reporter: a spokesperson for the colorado governor tells nbc news his legal team is reviewing his application for clemency or commutation. lester >> thank you. in just 60 seconds how small businesses are cashing in on the supply chain crisis. and our exclusive with a former government worker speaking out for the first time about her battle with havana syndrome. amid bottlenecks, log jams and delays, today president biden tried to paint an optimistic view of the american supply chain, claiming a crisis never materialized after speaking with business leaders, the president said packages are moving, gifts are being delivered and shelves are not empty. the head of fedex acknowledged not all of the supply chain issues were resolved, but was optimistic that most of santa's products will be delivered. and as the months of backlogs took their toll, many americans turned to small businesses for their holiday gifts. morgan radford with the race to deliver. >> reporter: for this furniture maker, the supply chain crisis is nowhere to be seen. >> i can just jump out and go there, pick up what i need and work on my pieces. >> reporter: like 95% of small business owners selling on the website etsy, the north carolina craftsman gets his material locally. so everything you are using, trees, lumber, you are using locally. and you're building locally? >> that's right. >> reporter: and it's paid off. >> from 2019 to 2021, the percentage change is over 1,400% >> reporter: i'm sorry. i just want to run that back. you have increased your business 1,400% >> yeah. during the pandemic. >> reporter: it is a surprising trend playing out nationwide with more small businesses seeing increased revenues over the past month than in 2020 and customer spending surging by 18% over last year on small business saturday alone. but others here are still feeling the pinch. just down the street, at this jewelers, they say they have seen the supply chain slowdown firsthand. >> we had one customer who ordered a beautiful pair of golden pearls, and it took 16 weeks to get them. >> reporter: they're among the 39% of small retail businesses who say they're having foreign supply chain issues, so they made their own supply so you are essentially transitioning from using things overseas and then building it here >> yeah. that's exactly what we've done we had gotten away from that because it's hard to compete with the labor. now because of covid, because of supply chain issues and also because we want to create jobs again, we brought it back. >> reporter: an international problem being solved right here at home morgan radford, nbc news, asheville, north carolina. now to our nbc news exclusive a long-time state department veteran afflicted by the mysterious havana syndrome speaking out for the first time about her symptoms and her fight to be believed here's andrea mitchell. >> reporter: sheryl cruz speaking out for the first time about her 20-year state department career was cut short by a mysterious illness, the havana syndrome. >> i started with the vertigo and the tinnitus and brain fog. i could actually feel my brain shutting down, like it just -- everything kind of went black. >> reporter: she is among more than 200 state department personnel and cia officers afflicted around the world many still feel ignored. >> i do not believe the department took me seriously. it was always, we'll get back to you. i have to ask myself, are they trying to disprove us or are they trying to prove what happened? >> reporter: and in canada, 27 diplomats, military police and family members are suing their government over incidents in cuba who's responsible? attention is focussed on russia, which u.s. intelligence said had the global reach and technology experts suspect could be the cause. in november the cia director bill burns warned moscow there would be repercussions if it's behind it. >> all of us are intently focussed on getting to the bottom of what and who is causing these incidents. >> reporter: tuesday night secretary of state blinken visited doctors at johns hopkins in baltimore where cia officers and state department personnel are being treated. a lot of suspicion is placed on russia they have denied it. >> we know this is something that has been widespread and we will keep at it until we find out who is responsible. and we will hold whoever it is accountable. >> reporter: a new law requires the government to compensate victims for qualifying brain injuries still to be determined, what qualifies as a brain injury and many of these victims are disabled, unable to work lester >> all right andrea, thanks for more on all this, watch our digital documentary, fighting an invisible enemy, the voices of havana syndrome streaming now on nbcnews.com and on youtube. up next for us here tonight, fleeing years of war one generation of refugees in america welcomes the next. ♪ i see trees of green ♪ ♪ red roses too ♪ ♪ i see them bloom for me and you ♪ (music) ♪ so i think to myself ♪ ♪ oh what a wonderful world ♪ nearly four months after withdrawing from afghanistan, the u.s. is easing some restrictions on the famine-stricken country. the treasury department said the move will allow more humanitarian aid to flow into the country while still keeping the pressure on the taliban. more than half of afghanistan's 39 million people face acute hunger here in the u.s., thousands of afghan refugees are starting new lives, and some are getting a hand from volunteers who know just what it's like to settle in a new country. here's vicky nguyen. >> lentil, more rice >> reporter: a volunteer group helping afghans resettle in seattle. >> way want them to feel welcome there is a group of people that they can rely on. >> reporter: these images of afghans escaping after the u.s. withdrawal in august reminded her of the vietnamese experience in 1975 she lost four family members including her mother and two siblings during their escape as boat people. how did that experience at ten years old shape who you are now? >> it made me realize how much life can just turn group side down really, really quickly. >> reporter: in four months, they resettled two families with help with the sponsor circle program today volunteers visit saheem and his family of eight. >> the vietnamese community's help and the help of people that are close to him has been overwhelming. >> reporter: some 25,000 afghan refugees are living on u.s. military bases but next month, saheem family moves to this apartment. >> it is generous enough to provide you the house. >> reporter: the kindness continues sam's nephew will pay for their utility bills. what would you say to people who want to help but don't know how. >> we didn't know either just get started >> reporter: it requires volunteers to commit to three months, but she says the bonds forming now will last a lifetime vicky nguyen, nbc news. and up next, a holiday mystery for the police, trying to find and thank a boy for his act of kindness finally tonight, the holiday gesture inspiring america from a boy in florida to the police now they're trying to find him to say thanks kerry sanders is on the case >> reporter: police in this florida city are tonight on the hunt for a pint-sized person of interest their only clue, this letter written in pencil to hollywood police department. thank you for your service. from my piggy bank to you. enclosed $10 and one useful clue. the letter is signed william s. hernandez he's now wanted for kindness >> what can we do? can we send some patches? can we send some hpd gear they're like, no, that's the problem there is no return address. >> reporter: are the detectives using handwriting analysis. >> oh, gosh. that i don't know. >> reporter: i'm looking at the handwriting. it's block letters so -- >> it is you know, it looks like he really took his time, though because there is a little part where he erased and you could see he wrote over it you could tell he was really trying to make it perfect. >> reporter: with little to go on, the police have turned to a tried and true technique, social media posts, asking the community to finger william hernandez. so far no luck but reaction online, they are raising that boy right. and then there is this so shines a good deed in a weary world, originally penned by a different william, as this william, a philanthropic fugitive brightens our holiday season kerry sanders, nbc news hollywood, florida. >> let's hope they all get to meet. that's our broadcast for tonight. take care of yourself and each other take care of yourself and each other good night, everyone emergency planning for kids. we can't predict when an emergency will happen. so that's why it's important to make a plan with your parents. here are a few tips to stay safe. know how to get in touch with your family. write down phone numbers for your parents, siblings and neighbors. pick a place to meet your family if you are not together and can't go home. remind your parents to pack an emergency supply kit. making a plan might feel like homework, but it will help you and your family stay safe during an emergency. ♪ i see trees of green ♪ but it will help you and ♪ red roses too ♪safe ♪ i see them bloom for me and you ♪ (music) ♪ so i think to myself ♪ ♪ oh what a wonderful world ♪ tonight omicron is here and spreading exponentially. we'll be joined by one of our covid experts on what we should be doing ahead of our holiday gatherings. then your original vaccination no longer good enough into get into some businesses. we talk to one san francisco chef about why he's taking this extra step. and more wet weather ahead. jeff's checking the next storm. i am jessica aguirre. tonight, growing concern about a post-holiday covid surge, also, the escalating push to require a booster shot if you want to go

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