Peoria, Ill — One Illinois infectious disease expert says people at high-risk for serious illness from COVID-19 should be careful about holiday get togethers.
However, the University of Illinois School of Medicine’s Dr. Doug Kasper says it’s not so much the case for vaccinated people who know they’ll be around lots of other vaccinated people.
“If an individual is fully vaccinated and boosted and if they understand the people they are going to be around are in the same situation and nobody is at high risk of becoming ill by age or medical condition, I would go ahead and get together.”
Dr. Kasper spoke on WMBD’s “The Greg and Dan Show” on Tuesday.
Of course, the advice comes as many in the area are likely planning parties for New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day.
Kasper says more and more evidence seems to suggest the Omicron variant is causing milder illness.
He says multiple studies show the Omicron COVID-19 variant is not able to spread in the lungs, reducing the likelihood it will cause pneumonia in patients like we’ve seen with earlier strains.
However, he says the new variant could still heavily stress the healthcare system because it can spread so fast to so many people.
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