Boosters are your best bet against Omicron

Boosters are your best bet against Omicron   Three large studies from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released on Friday highlight the importance of getting a booster to protect against the Omicron coronavirus variant.   This is the first real-life data to examine the effect of boosters against Omicron in the United States, involving millions of cases, hundreds of thousands of visits to emergency departments and urgent care centers, and tens of thousands of hospitalizations among adults.   One study found that getting boosted was 90% effective at preventing hospitalizations during a period in December and January when Omicron was the dominant variant.   In comparison, getting two shots was 57% effective against hospitalizations when it had been at least six months past the second shot.   Getting boosted was 82% effective at preventing visits to emergency rooms and urgent care centers, according to the study. But with two shots, it was only 38% effective at preventing those visits when it had been at least six months past the second shot.   A second study concluded that people with three shots were less likely to get infected with Omicron. Looking at data from 25 state and local health departments, the CDC researchers found that among those who were boosted, there were 149 cases per 100,000 people on average each week. For those who had only two doses, it was 255 cases per 100,000 people.   The third study of more than 13,000 US Omicron cases found that the odds of developing a symptomatic infection were 66% lower for people who were boosted compared with those who had received only two shots.   All three studies found that unvaccinated people faced the highest risks of becoming sick with Covid-19.