160,000 people are hospitalized with covid right now. that s a record high. but as cnn s omar jimenez reports, the number of daily cases are actually trending down, even as some hospitals are growing more crowded by the day. the reason this january is so dramatically different from last january is because we have the tools we need to protect people. reporter: being boosted has never been more important. protection against infection and hospitalization with the omicron variant is highest for those who are up to date with their vaccination, meaning those who are boosted when they are eligible. reporter: one cdc study published friday looked at 88,000 hospitalizations across ten states in december and january when omicron has been dominant. finding being boosted was 90% effective at preventing hospitalization during omicron. only slightly down from the 94% when delta was a dominant variant. so boosting remains the highest protection possible. but for those with just two
so dramatically different from last january is because we have the tools to protect people. reporter: being boosted has never been more important. protection against infection and hospitalization with the omicron variant is highest for those who are up to date with their vaccinations, meaning those who are boosted when they are eligible. reporter: one cdc study published friday looked at 88,000 hospitalizations across ten states in december and january when omicron has been dominant, finding being boosted was 90% effective at preventing hospitalization during omicron. only slightly down from the 94% when delta was the dominant variant. so boosting remains the highest protection possible. for those with just two doses, after six months the vaccines were 76% effective against urgent care and emergency room visits, primarily during the delta surge. during omicron, that fell to 38%. for the unvaccinated, new cdc data shows those 65 and older were nearly 50 times more likely
grow. yet some hospitals still grow more crowded by the day. cnn s omar jimenez reports. the reason this january is so dramatically different than last january is because we have the tools we need to protect people. reporter: being boosted has never been more important. protection against infection and hospitalization with the omicron variant is higher for those who are up to date with their vaccination, than those who are boosted when they are eligible. reporter: one cdc study published friday looking at 88 hospitalizations across ten states in december and january when omicron has been dominant. finding being boosted was 90% effective at preventing hospitalization during omicron. only slightly down from the 94% when delta was the dominant variant, so boosting remains the highest possible. for those with two doses, after six months, the vaccines were 76% effective against urgent