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US Omicron: 'Blame lies squarely with unvaccinated'

Health officials say Omicron has become the dominant coronavirus variant in the US - accounting for nearly three quarters of new infections last week. In some parts of the country -- including New York and the Pacific Northwest -- it's even more widespread, making up more than 90 per cent of the latest cases.

So is the answer more travel bans, more masks, or more vaccinations?

Dr Amesh Adalja, senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security says definitely the latter. He thinks healthcare workers need to work with those who are vaccine hesitant one-by-one to persuade them to get vaccinated.

"We actually have to lay the blame squarely on the unvaccinated for the issues we're having in some of the hospitals in the country... I don't think we can forbid life to the vaccinated on behalf to the unvaccinated any longer... This is not a virus that's ever going to be eradicated."

(Photo: An anti-vaccine mandate protest at City Hall in Boston. Credit: AFP)

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