WHATCOM COUNTY, Wash. – The Whatcom County Health Department says we should continue using the same tools to avoid COVID as concern grows over the newly discovered Omicron variant.
Those include vaccination, masking, ventilation, testing and isolation for those who’ve been exposed.
The department says 58,000 Whatcom County residents who are eligible haven’t been vaccinated and hospitalization rates for the illness remain high.
It recommends booster shots, and now anyone who received the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine six months ago or the J&J two months ago can schedule one.
The health department says the new variant is being studied for its transmissibility, severity and how effective the vaccines are against it.
No cases have been found in the U.S. yet but some have been confirmed in Canada, and the department says it’s just a matter of time before the variant makes it across the border.