Estimated 73% of US now immune to omicron: Is that enough?

By CARLA K. JOHNSON / AP

The omicron wave that assaulted the United States this winter also bolstered its defenses, leaving enough protection against the coronavirus that future spikes will likely require much less — if any — dramatic disruption to society.

Millions of individual Americans’ immune systems now recognize the virus and are primed to fight it off if they encounter omicron, or even another variant.

About half of eligible Americans have received booster shots, there have been nearly 80 million confirmed infections overall and many more infections have never been reported. One influential model uses those factors and others to estimate that 73% of Americans are, for now, immune to omicron, the dominant variant, and that could rise to 80% by mid-March.

This will prevent or shorten new illnesses in protected people and reduce the amount of virus circulating overall, likely tamping down new waves. Hospitals will get a break from overwhelmed ICUs, experts agree.

Hillary Clinton Has Finally Responded to Durham Probe Bombshell. Here's What She Said.

Leah Barkoulis / Townhall Tipsheet

Former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton finally broke her silence Wednesday over the latest bombshell allegations made in special counsel John Durham’s recent court filing. 

"Trump & Fox are desperately spinning up a fake scandal to distract from his real ones," Clinton tweeted. “So it’s a day that ends in Y."

"The more his misdeeds are exposed, the more they lie," she continued. 

“For those interested in reality, here's a good debunking of their latest nonsense,” she added, linking to a Vanity Fair story titled, “You’ll Never Believe It But Hillary Clinton Did Not, In Fact, Spy On Trump’s White House.”

Durham’s court filing on Friday alleged a Clinton campaign lawyer had a tech executive tap into communications data from Trump servers and the White House in order establish a narrative tying Trump to Russia.