42 Doctors Told Us What They Think Of Boosters And Masks In The Face Of Omicron And Everyone Should Hear Their Answers

The world, after all, looks different today than it did last year: Namely, there were 4 million new COVID cases reported in America last week — a caseload it took the country a whopping 6 months to amass in 2020. 

By now, we all know that COVID-19 is relentless and refuses to give any of us the chance to catch our breath. Having already endured new waves of the virus crashing immediately behind previous ones and witnessing the devastating effects from variants such as Delta, the country is now battling the most contagious strain of the virus yet: Omicron.

"Omicron appears to be much more infectious than prior variants," said Dr. Scott Wetstone, an associate professor of public health sciences at UConn Health at the University of Connecticut.

Indeed, former CDC director Dr. Tom Frieden recently posted to Twitter that in his 30 years of studying infectious disease outbreaks, "I've NEVER seen anything like the speed of Omicron."

Despite its unprecedented spread and danger, a whopping 37.4% of the country remains unvaccinated, with those unvaccinated individuals making up the vast majority of COVID-related hospitalizations.

Dr. Julie Smith-Gagen, an epidemiologist at the University of Nevada, Reno, told me her sister-in-law's father couldn't receive adequate treatment for the chest pains he was experiencing because his hospital was "overwhelmed with unvaccinated sick people." She said, "He spent time in the hospital hallway and passed away a few days later." 

Wetstone lamented that Omicron could push our healthcare system "past its breaking point" and that "patients needing care for matters other than COVID won't get it."

"It's unfortunate that people with various illnesses including cancers have to delay their care because unvaccinated patients with COVID are overwhelming the system," said Dr. Josef Neu, a professor of pediatrics at the University of Florida. "This is unacceptable when in most cases vaccination could have prevented this."

"A more transmissible virus like Omicron will lead to more cases, hospitalizations, and unfortunately more deaths," warned Dr. Katrine Wallace, an epidemiologist at the University of Illinois at Chicago, School of Public Health. "We should try to use as many mitigation layers as possible in light of a more transmissible variant."

While there are many proven layers of mitigation in the fight against this virus, few are more effective (or controversial) than face masks. Despite bungled messaging by authorities early on, masks have continually proven to be one of the best tools we have at our disposal. 

One of the most recent global studies found that masks are linked to a whopping 53% decrease in transmission when worn properly. N95 masks or surgical masks have proven to be especially effective. "Several studies have found that surgical masks are between 66% and 70% effective," Dr. Smith-Gagen said. 

Dr. Hyung Chun, an associate professor of medicine at Yale School of Medicine, said he can speak from firsthand experience about how effective face masks are in protecting against COVID transmission. "I rode in a car for almost an hour with someone who tested positive for COVID-19 the next day but I did not catch the virus," he said. "We were both masked with regular surgical masks throughout our ride." 

"Not only does masking prevent the spread of COVID, but also many other infectious diseases that are spread during this time of year," said Dr. Joseph Larkin, a microbiologist at the University of Florida. He also pointed out that wearing masks in crowds is nothing new: "In countries such as Japan, masks have been respectfully used to prevent the spread of infectious agents for many years."

While masks are useful, vaccines and boosters remain the most important layer of protection against COVID and its variants. "I would strongly recommend vaccination for anyone who is indicated for it," Dr. Abraham said. "Without vaccinations in the US, some estimates suggest greater than one million more people would have died during the beginning of the pandemic," said Dr. Neu.

"Nearly 8.47 billion and 495 million doses have been administered across the world and the United States, respectively. At this point, the vaccine has been proven to be safe and effective across multiple situations and demographics including in older adults, children/adolescents, pregnant women, individuals who are immunocompromised, and individuals with chronic medical conditions," said Dr. Richard Dang, a pharmacist and assistant professor of clinical pharmacy at the University of Southern California.

"Think of it this way," she said, "putting gas into a 12-year-old Hyundai sedan will make it work, but won't turn the car into a brand-new Ferrari. Just because we are vaccinated doesn't necessarily mean that we won't get COVID; it just means our body has more tools to fight the virus if we do."

"The overall vaccine effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccines against Alpha and Delta ranged from 80% to 100%," Dang said. "Based on some data that just came out of the United Kingdom, vaccine effectiveness against Omicron infection was reduced to 30%–40% after only 2 doses, but increased back up to 70%–80% after a booster dose."

Dr. Megan Quinn, an associate professor in the department of biostatistics and epidemiology at the College of Public Health at East Tennessee State University explained that anyone concerned about vaccines should keep rare side effects in proper perspective alongside the risks of contracting the diseases they protect against. Generally, only 1 in 200,000 people have a serious adverse — though nonlethal — reaction to COVID-19 vaccines compared to 1 in 150 who die after contracting the virus. "The benefits of vaccines have been found to far outweigh the risks," she said. 

"Though T-cell responses aren't as easy to quantitate as antibodies," he said, "they are also very important because they help reactivate the antibody response and, when necessary, prevent cells that are infected from infecting other cells." He explained that our immune system is like a heavyweight boxer that may be capable of beating a virus like COVID, but it still has to train for each specific opponent (getting vaxxed) and remain fit enough to endure multiple rounds and new contenders (boosting against variants).

In January 2022, the CDC updated its recommendation to shorten the interval between one's second dose and a booster from 6 months to 5 months for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine. The general rule of thumb now is "the booster shot should be given anytime 5 months or greater after your second shot," Dr. Borrell said. 

However, per the CDC, "for people who received the J&J vaccine (2 months) or the Moderna vaccine (6 months)," the interval has not changed.

"Individuals who have been infected with COVID-19 have likely developed antibodies through natural immunity," Dang acknowledged. "However, it is currently unknown how long protection through these antibodies may last." He added that anyone with a previous infection of COVID-19 should still get the shots once their symptoms have abated. "Multiple studies show that individuals who have previously been infected with COVID-19 still benefit from the vaccine and boosters, especially in reducing the risk of reinfections and protection against severe disease or hospitalizations," he said.

Dr. Jesse Erasmus, a microbiologist at the University of Washington School of Medicine, had similar advice. "Even those who have experienced natural infection should get a booster. These individuals will likely have an ideal immune response to the booster vaccination with potential for an improved breadth of immunity, which could provide better protection against future variants," he said. 

Most young people can beat COVID without dying but something as simple as staying up to date with vaccination and boosters could save you a trip to the hospital and a world of hurt. "While there is a general perception that COVID-19 causes severe disease only in the elderly population, we have seen many unvaccinated patients in their 30s to 50s being hospitalized in the intensive care units with COVID-19 infections," said Dr. Chun. 

While the future of COVID-19 is still unknown, most public health officials told me they think it would be wise to recalibrate one's expectations about COVID vaccines and boosters from the "one and done" mentality to annual doses becoming likely.

"I anticipate seasonal outbreaks and hopefully effective boosters to control the spread and severity of the disease," said Dr. John Hokanson, a professor of epidemiology at the University of Colorado School of Public Health.

"COVID vaccines will be similar to the flu vaccine," Dr. Borrell offered. "Every year (or sooner), we may have to get it. Thus, we should get used to it." 

The good news is that because we have so many mitigation tools at our disposal, the panic that gripped the nation in 2020 is preventable. "We should be concerned and remain responsible, but not become irrational due to high anxiety," Dr. Larkin advised. "Of course, these are challenging, unprecedented times, but we have to continue to do the things we can. This includes getting vaccinated, getting boosters, and masking."