Is Omicron Less Dangerous Than Delta? Dr. Anthony Fauci Weighs In - Amanpour and Company
The Omicron variant is now the dominant strain of COVID-19 in the United States. Less than a month after the first case appeared, the CDC reports the variant made up more than 70% of all new infections last week. The rapid spread is provoking stark warnings from public health leaders. The White House is sounding the alarm that the unvaccinated will soon overwhelm the country's healthcare system. The European Union has announced that vaccine passports will expire unless people get a booster. As all of this gathers pace, Dr. Anthony Fauci, Chief Medical Advisor to President Biden, has been speaking about the latest details with Walter Isaacson. Originally aired on December 21, 2021.
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And the county also announced that they've set up mask distribution sites. *sigh*
I'm staying home! 
Too little, too late. And I'm done doing my errands for the week, I had to be at a dozen places over the last 2 days, doctor's appointment, blood work, vet office, groceries, pet supplies, cemetery, last minute gifts. But I had a very pleasant surprise yesterday when I stopped to bring some groceries to my agoraphobic brother. He hates to go anywhere, and I brought him to get both Pfizer doses (after arguing about it for weeks) last April and May. Now I've been trying to convince him to get his booster, but he always has an answer. However, yesterday he met me with his vaccine card - he had to go out to get his prescription refilled (he goes through the drive-thru) and saw the lighted signs at the same nearby mall vaccine clinic where I took him originally - and it said they were accepting walk-ins, so he got his booster last Thursday! 
So happy he got booster!
Hey, being a homebody is a great thing thrse days!
My doctor's appointment Tuesday was in the county just south of here which always has even worse traffic. When I tried making a right turn to get back on the main road after my appointment, I sat through 3 green lights since I was facing a wall of stopped traffic. If it hadn't been for a nice lady in an SUV who stopped and waved me out, I'd still be sitting there! God forbid I'd tried to turn left (4 lanes of stopped traffic!). So no, I don't recommend going out... 
And yes, my brother taking it upon himself to get his booster was such a relief! It made my day, week, Christmas!
I'm way up in the Northeast, near Vermont, rural Adirondacks country. And it's been bumper-to-bumper the last two times I've had to go out to take care of numerous issues (doctor, bloodwork, vet office, groceries) before the weekend.
And the worst traffic was when I had to travel to the next county south, doctor and vet office. Traffic was just stopped and I'm lucky I'm not still there. And yes, everyone's out getting ready for Christmas!
I grew up there and it's a big tourist destination, when I was a kid, August was a tough month for locals, but one time when I had to leave my dog at the vet for awhile, I drove around and it looks like they have built up or are in the process of building on every possible spot of land. It's just solid shopping or hotels.
Gas stations/convenience stores and groceries, the places I go most often, have big signs inside and out, looking to hire people. And there's big amusement park just north of here, the place I had my first summer job ages ago. Back in the day, everyone of a certain age, students off for the summer, wanted to get a job there. I was lucky, showed up at the exact right time, they needed a Cinderella and I'm blonde, so I was hired on the spot, LOL. And once they knew me, I eventually moved on to another job I really liked, driving the train that went through the Jungleland part of the park. I worked there for six summers. 
But now I've been told that they are hard pressed to find workers. They are now mainly foreign workers that they have to put up - and that still isn't enough, though the place is packed with tourists in the summer, they had to shut down for a couple of days during the week because they just didn't have enough staff.
And of course last year they never opened, everything was closed here and in Saratoga because of the pandemic This year, everything was open with a vengeance and they rescinded the state-wide mask mandate in July that had been in place for over a year. They just reinstated it last week and there have been problems already, people got used to going maskless despite the fact that the number of Covid cases is way up. 
I'm not surprised that many people (even if they're young) don't want to be more exposed to Covid, especially for the wages those jobs usually offer.
I work in a large factory building with lots of separation between everyone about 99% of the time (except during brief interactions with the supervisors), so I feel like my risk is lower than many working people except for the remote-workers. Plus the inside air gets exchanged with outside air continuously.
After trying so hard to not get infected for many months, I'd be depressed about working closely with the public. The convenience stores often have plexiglass barriers for their employees, but I'm sure there's aerosols circulating everywhere in those small buildings.
I hope the new variants continue to be less deadly as Omicron seems to be, since Trump cultists are willingly spreading it and others are less willingly spreading it just to have an income.
There's many places to shop and eat at the other town near me, but none of it appeals to me during a pandemic. Lol!
Traffic there sounds awful! Really happy you got home safely!
I'm really proud of your brother! 