NE Ga Medical Center sees uptick in COVID patients

Worries about the omicron variant of the COVID-19 virus spreading into Georgia is prompting more Georgians to get their vaccine booster shot.

Metro pharmacists say they are seeing an increase in the number of booster appointments being made.

One Cherokee County pharmacist says that as news about the virus continues spreading, many people are starting to think they shouldn’t put off getting the booster.

“Everyone is worried. Now on the news there’s another variant,” said Donna Cortino, one woman getting her vaccine.

“This is what viruses do, they mutate and they change,” said Woodstock pharmacist Jonathan Marquess.

Scientists say the change brought by the omicron variant is significant. They say it has 30 mutations, which is much more than past variants.

Those mutations change the spike proteins and the ability of the vaccine and natural antibodies to stop the virus from entering cells. When that happens, the risk of serious disease and death rises.

Many people are wondering if the current vaccine will be effective against this new strain.

Dr. John Delzell of the Northeast Georgia Medical Center shares the concerns of many metro hospitals that omicron will spark another surge in infections.

“We got down to 31; it was the lowest we got,” Delzell said of cases after Thanksgiving. “We are back in the upper fifties now, so we are a little worried about that.”

Health officials are waiting on new data to determine how quickly the omicron variant is spreading and how sick people get, among both the vaccinated and unvaccinated.

Representatives from pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and Moderna are working on tweaking their vaccines to make them more resistant to the omicron variant.

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