Omicron updates: COVID-19 cases could double in New York City

New York's seven-day average case rate has jumped by 43% since Thanksgiving.

ByMorgan Winsor, Emily Shapiro, Ivan Pereira, and Meredith Deliso
Last Updated: December 13, 2021, 4:29 AM EST

As the COVID-19 pandemic has swept the globe, more than 5.3 million people have died from the disease worldwide, including over 797,000 Americans, according to real-time data compiled by Johns Hopkins University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering.

Just 60.7% of the population in the United States is fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Latest headlines:

Here's how the news developed. All times Eastern.
Dec 08, 2021, 1:42 PM EST

US sees highest daily case average since September  

The U.S. is now reporting more than 117,000 new cases each day -- marking the nation's highest daily average since September, according to federal data. Just in the last week, the daily case average has surged by 46%.

New Hampshire currently holds the nation's highest case rate followed by Michigan, Minnesota, Rhode Island, New Mexico and Indiana.

On average, more than 1,100 new COVID-19 related deaths are being reported each day in the U.S. -- up by 38% in the last week, according to federal data.

-ABC News' Arielle Mitropoulos

Dec 08, 2021, 12:54 PM EST

Cases surging in South Africa

South Africa reported 19,842 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday -- a 50% increase from Tuesday and a 131% increase from one week ago.

South Africa now has 360 confirmed omicron cases.

Just 24.41% of the country's population is fully vaccinated, according to Africa CDC.

People wait to get vaccinated outside an ambulance which has been converted to facilitate vaccinations at a COVID 19 vaccination event in Manenberg, Dec. 8, 2021, in Cape Town, South Africa.
Rodger Bosch/AFP via Getty Images

-ABC News' Christine Theodorou

Dec 08, 2021, 11:41 AM EST

WHO on omicron: Emerging data suggests increased risk of re-infection

Emerging data from South Africa suggest an increased risk of re-infection with omicron, though more data's needed to draw firmer conclusion, World Health Organization Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a Wednesday press conference.

He also said there's some evidence omicron causes milder symptoms than delta, though that is not yet definitive.

People walk by groups of people lined-up to get tested for Covid-19 in Times Square, Dec. 5, 2021, in New York City.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Omicron has now been reported in 57 countries. The director-general said, "we expect that number to continue growing."

-ABC News' Christine Theodorou

Dec 08, 2021, 11:07 AM EST

Pfizer CEO: Don't wait for omicron-specific booster

Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla agrees with experts like Dr. Anthony Fauci who have been vocal in saying Americans shouldn't wait for an omicron-specific booster.

"People should go get their third dose now, and not wait,” Bourla told ABC News on Wednesday.

However, he stressed the importance of developing a variant-specific booster in case it is needed.

"The reason why we are doing a specific omicron vaccine is because you never know. We can't take a chance. It's not the first time that we do it. We have already created a vaccine for beta, and we have already created a vaccine for delta, we never used them. But we used the resources to develop them, because the scenario that eventually we need it, and we didn't have it in hand, would be very bad. So we will continue doing that for every variant," he said.

-ABC News' Arielle Mitropoulos

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