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Well, as they say, winter is coming, and there are growing concerns from health experts about a group of Omicron subvariants.
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Yeah, these new strains are able to dodge our immune defenses, and they pose a new threat to both vaccinated and previously infected people.
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Here to help us break that all down, NBC News medical fellow Dr. Akshay Syal joins us. Thank you for being here in studio with us.
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So let's talk about these new variants, they're a derivative of the Omicron strain. What is it about these Omicron spin-offs, if you want to call them, that we should be concerned about? What should we be worried about?
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So, good afternoon, it's good to be here with you, and what these experts are describing to us is this is a viral evolution on steroids.
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We're seeing a bunch of little spin-offs of Omicron. There's a couple concerns here, the first is we're going to see another rise in cases as we head into the fall and winter season.
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The other thing we're watching for is, is those tools that we have in our toolbox will they still be effective? I spoke to Dr. Fauci about this and here's what he had to say.
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If BA.4.6 evades and you shelled and that's another tool in our armamentarium that will not be usable for people who are immune compromised.
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And so what he was referring to is Evusheld⁽¹⁾, it's a monoclonal antibody that if you have a weak immune system, you actually get as an injection to prevent you from getting sick.
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And the concern is that may not work with these spin-offs. - So that's in addition to the vaccination? - If you have a weakened immune system.
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First off, great interview with Dr. Fauci. Thank you for bringing us that information, but also, I mean, just make the booster shots worth it then, I mean is it something that can even help us against this new variant?
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It's an excellent question, you know, we're not seeing the demand for the booster that high.
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So I asked Dr. Fauci, you know how, what do I tell my patients? why should they get this booster if those BA4 BA5 variants are no longer the dominant variants?
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And he said cross protection, all that means is these new boosters we have are closer related to these spin-offs and the old vaccines. So if it's a good idea, especially if you didn't have an Omicron infection.
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Let's say you got sick. should you still wait to get that booster? and what should people who are immune compromised, what should they know?
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if you're immune compromised, I wouldn't wait. If you recovered from an infection, I would get it as soon as you able to, but... - Don't wait for three months, like I used to say.
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I wouldn't, but if you're not immune, compromised, you really want to wait three to six months to get the most bang for your buck from that booster?
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Which I have to say it sort of begs the question, is this sort of fly in the face of this herd immunity that we all thought was going to be just a silver bullet⁽²⁾ to get us out of this pandemic once and for all.
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You know, a little bit, I will say, all the experts I've talked to say this virus isn't going anywhere. We need to learn to live with it this winter, probably the next winter, too.
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So, let's take advantage of those tools that we have. - It's starting to feel like the flu all over again. - All right NBC News medical fellow Dr. Akshay Syal thank you so much. - Anytime.