require unannounced entry. america s top expert on infectious disease says the u.s. could be out of the woods with omicron coronavirus variant soon. dr. anthony fauci says there s a high level of immunity in the population and it s unlikely the u.s. will see a big surge of omicron hospitalizations again. legendary golfer tiger woods is returning to the masters 14 months after a car crash that many thought would end his career. brian todd explains how woods got to this point and the challenges he ll face on his return to augusta. reporter: tiger woods said that right after his horrific car accident almost 14 months ago there was a chance one of his legs might have had to be amputated. on tuesday he said the words many thought might never come just ahead of golf s premiere tournament, the masters. as of right now i feel like i am going to play, as of right now. reporter: the 46-year-old is
researchers looked at booster effectiveness at preventing omicron hospitalizations. they found that boosters were 90% effective at preventing hospitalizations, and the two shots were only 57% effective. and there s looking at 88,000 hospitalizations in ten states. now let s look at booster effectiveness at preventing omicron e.r. and urgent care visits. they looked at 200,000 visits in ten states. boosters were 82% effective, two shots just 38% effective. now, lastly, let s look at booster effectiveness at preventing omicron illness, just from getting sick with omicron. they looked at 13,000 cases. they found that the odds of becoming sick with omicron were 66% lower than for people who had a booster versus two shots. and just to remind everyone, here are the rules about boosters in the united states because they sort of changed around for a while last fall. so the rules are, the recommendations are, i should say, that everyone should get a
to come. reporter: and that s the important thing here is that there still needs to be caution. this is very much sort of a leading indicator of what s going on. officials and experts who are doing this kind of work say this is very important and could become a part of the public health toolbox going forward. i was going to say, more information, all good. thank you so much, scott. let s bring in dr. ebony hilton, anesthesiologist and msnbc contributor. always good to see you. there s this new study you re familiar with from the cdc. it shows that a booster shot offers the best protection from omicron hospitalizations. so does that suggest in your mind that we need to change the definition of being fully vaccinated to include a third shot? most certainly. you know, it s one of those conversations that we re having with persons in the cdc back in december that we need to change the definition of what fully vaccinated means. we know in israel right now
Top U.S. health agencies say that the number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 across the country is rising rapidly as the highly contagious omicron variant continues to spread.
Top U.S. health agencies say that the number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 across the country is rising rapidly as the highly contagious omicron variant continues to spread.