CDC director: Early data suggests Omicron may be less severe, but 'a lot of people' will still get sick

• The Omicron variant may cause less severe disease, if early reports are any indication.
• However, more people will get sick, the CDC director told Today show hosts.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky said on Tuesday that early data appears to show the Omicron variant may be less severe, but warned that "a lot of people" will still get sick.

"We're starting to see some early data that is demonstrating some decreased severity," Walensky told Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb during an interview on the Today show. "Shorter lengths of stay... fewer people on oxygen, fewer people in the ICU."

Most confirmed Omicron cases reported in the US have been mild, with symptoms like cough, congestion and fatigue, Walensky told the AP. In the UK, where the variant is more prevalent, at least one person has died from COVID-19 linked to the Omicron variant, and others have been hospitalized.

The more the variant spreads, the greater the risk of some people becoming severely ill, Walensky explained. Even if a small portion of people infected with Omicron get sick, the number of sick people — and the burden on the healthcare system — increases as overall infection rates rise.

"If you have more and more people who have disease, even if you have fewer people that get sick from it, you still have a lot of people who are getting sick, so really we want to make sure that we keep all those prevention measures — vaccination, boosting — in place," Walensky said on the Today show.

Omicron was first detected in the US on November 15, according to the CDC. Though more data needs to be collected, early research suggests that the variant may be more resistant to protection provided by vaccines. More than three-quarters of Omicron infections reported in the US have been in vaccinated people, Walensky told the AP.

It's also likely that the variant is "highly transmissible," according to a major study of Omicron in South Africa out Tuesday. The study has not yet been peer-reviewed, but it's the largest collection of Omicron data yet, with 78,000 cases linked to the variant. Those with Omicron had a 29% lower risk of hospitalization compared to those who tested positive during South Africa's first wave, even after adjusting for vaccination status.

In a separate appearance on CBS Mornings, co-host Tony Dokoupil asked Walensky when the public might be able to "live with the virus," or at least shift from crisis mode to recovery mode.

"We all want to get there. We're not where we want to be right now," Walensky answered. "We have 1,100 deaths every day, still. And we can't be cavalier about the fact that we're losing so many lives from this."

This story is developing. Please check back for updates.