surprise, given the rampant increase in this variant. all of this comes on top of a surge largely due to the delta variant that has seen cases rise across the country. here in new york, we have had four-consecutive days of record-case numbers, statewide. it is causing confusion and, frankly, exhaustion, especially among overworked frontline workers, one of whom you will hear from in just a moment. i am john berman in for anderson. and now, let s be clear. as negative as these headlines might sound, this is not like the darkest days of the pandemic. not at all. for one, hospitalizations do not appear, as of yet, to be closely tracking the rising case counts. that has been the case in new york city, according to top health officials and in new jersey according to the governor there. time will tell if the broader country will be able to say the same. another explanation is also a second reason for for hope and that s vaccines. moderna today announced a third shot of its vaccin
dominant variant in the u.s. the cdc is reporting it accounts now for almost three-quarters of new cases. a month ago i had never heard of omicron. the first detection here was september 1st. now here we are, 19 days later, it accounts for three out of four new cases. so with this new variant quickly taking hold, the white house says this biden speech is not going to be about locking the country down but rather about what to expect in these winter months, what steps we can all be taking now, and some dire warnings for the unvaxed in particular. will biden s new warnings resonate? remember, he campaigned on ending this pandemic. but nearly a year into his presidency, even with the miraculous vaccines, covid is still raging with a vengeance. we re hearing now some of his advisers are encouraging him to alter his messaging about ending the pandemic and instead steer public attention away from the total number of cases and focus on severity, how much more dangerous this virus is
(gasps) did it work? only pay for what you need liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. spider-man no way home in theaters december 17th the news continues, so let s hand it over to michael smerconish and cnn tonight. thank you, john. i am michael smerconish. welcome to cnn tonight. it s new year s eve, a new season literally setting in along with this virus. we re all done with covid but covid isn t done with us. that s why president biden is about to address our pandemic-weary nation tomorrow, to try and jolt us into action for this new front in the war with omicron on the march. omicron has just become the most