Tri-state COVID cases on the rise as threat of Omicron looms

NEW YORK - COVID positivity rates are continuing to tick up across the region, with New Jersey's positivity rate reaching over 9%, Connecticut governing near 5%, and New York just above 4%. 

The recent rise in cases is primarily being driven by the Delta variant of the coronavirus, but there is rising concern over how the new Omicron variant will spread and how severe it will be. 

In New York, COVID hospitalizations reached 3,489, the highest number since April 21 and a shocking 86% increase in just the last month.

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The CDC has been studying the variant closely, with most recorded cases so far turning out to be mild, with symptoms like coughing, congestion, and fatigue, with no deaths. Now, health officials are trying to determine how effective the vaccines will be against the variant.

"The more mutations a variant has the higher level you need your immunity to be so because omicron has a lot of them we want to make sure we bolster everybody's immunity.," said CDC Director Rochelle Walensky.

Cases of the Omicron variant have been found so far in 20 states across the U.S.

Meanwhile, drugmaker Pfizer has revealed promising news, saying that early data shows that a third dose of its COVID-19 vaccine increases antibodies by 25 times and neutralizes omicron, while also preventing hospitalization and death.