coronavirus infections have been a key metric in what s to come here. a first indicator, if you will, before hospitalizations and in worst cases death. but that may no longer be the case in 2022. i think this is the most important part of this moment in this pandemic. we have to do a shift. look, for two years infections always preceded hospitalizations which preceded deaths. so you could look at infections and know what was coming. this is the shift we ve been waiting for in many ways. we re moving to a phase where if you re vaccinated, particularly if you re boosted, you might get an infection. it might be a couple of days of not feeling so great but you re going to bounce back. that s very different than what we have seen in the past so i no longer think infections generally should be the major metric. obviously we can continue to track infections among unvaccinated people because those people will end up in the hospital at the same rate. we have to focus on hospitalizat
good morning to our viewers here in the united states and around the world. it is monday, december 27th. i m john avlon in with kaitlan collins all week. hope you had a great christmas. i hope you did, too. i wish we were in person this morning. i think this is the next best thing. i m excited to anchor with you all week. this morning, the extraordinarily contagious omicron coronavirus variant surging across the united states. dr. anthony fauci warning cases will climb much higher. testing continues to be a major challenge. around-the-clock lines. many facing the possibility of scrapping new year s plans altogether. the good news, dr. fauci expects things to improve beginning next month. we should be using testing much more extensively than we have. even in a situation where you have people who are vaccinated or boosted. we ve obviously got to do better. i think things will improve greatly into january. but that doesn t help us today and tomorrow. as omicron cases
enough day continues right now. and welcome to our viewers in the united states and around the world. it is monday, december 27th. i m kaitlan collins in with john avlon this morning. good morning. the extraordinarily contagious omicron variant is surging across the u.s. cases are likely to climb much higher. years into this pandemic, testing is still a major challenge. now with lines around the block at testing sites and shortages of at-home tests at drug stores. there is some promising news as dr. anthony fauci expects things will improve next month. testing much more extensively than we have. even in a situation where you have people who are vaccinated or boosted. we ve obviously got to do better. i think things will improve greatly as we get into john. that doesn t help us today and tomorrow. dr. fauci will join us here on new day in just a few minutes. as omicron cases are surging, health experts are waiting to see if hospitalizations will too. right now
a new covid wave across the u.s. disrupting holiday travel plans for millions of americans. president biden s agenda remains in limbo despite that promised christmas deadline. we ll hear from the vice president about what s next for build back better. and the world remembers archbishop desmond tutu. he helped end apartheid in south africa. announcer: live from london, this is cnn newsroom with max foster. we begin with the growing concern over the rapid spread of the omicron variant in the u.s. as cases surge, so does the demand for tests. this is the scene at testing sites around the country. long lines with people often having to wait hours to get tested. and the nation s top disease expert says access to testing has got to get better. we should be using testing much more extensively than we have, even in a situation where you have people who are vaccinated and boosted, but the situation where you have such a high demand, a conflation of events, omicron starting t
divisiveness politically when you have a classical historical unprecedented pandemic. it doesn t make any sense. millions of americans still unvaccinated this morning. dr. anthony fauci, thank you for joining us. good to be with you, kathryn. thank you for having me. and new day continues right now. good morning to our viewers here in the united states and around the world. it s monday, december 27th. i m john avlon with kaitlan collins. berman and brianna are enjoying a well-deserved week off. i can t believe they left us in charge. we ll see how it works out. i m feeling good about it. the contagious omicron is surging across the united states and dr. anthony fauci is warning those cases are likely to climb much higher. years into this pandemic, testing a major challenge. many americans are wondering if they need to scrap their new year s plans all together, as omicron cases are surging health experts are waiting to see if hospitalizations will as well. rig