(WXYZ) — In tonight's 7 UpFront segment we want to dive deeper into the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, starting with the omicron variant.
There is some promising news, as Pfizer says their data shows a third does of their vaccine can neutralize the variant.
We're being joined by the Chief Medical Executive of the state health department Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian to talk about the latest developments in the newest COVID-19 wave.
You can see the full interview in the video player above.
"No cases of omicron in our state so far, but that means we haven't picked it up yet. We know that it is circulating in other places in the country and chances are that it will be here if it is not here already. It's just a matter of time." Bagdasarian says. "Throughout this pandemic, we've really used layered mitigation strategies, and now, in preparation for the omicron variant, it's going to take layered mitigation strategies again and layered levels of preparation. One of the things I'd like to really stress is that we have the tools, we have the tools to prepare for this variant. We've got vaccines. We've got rapids tests. And we've got all of the other strategies we've been using throughout, like masks and distancing and ventilation. And it's really time to use all those layered mitigation strategies in preparation for omicron. Boosters is just one of those strategies."
