Lead UCSF Researcher Says Panic Around Omicron Variant Unwarranted

San Francisco CA

08 December, 2021

6:32 AM

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By Anlan Cheney, Mission Local December 6, 2021 The chief of HIV, Infectious Diseases and Global Medicine Division for UCSF gave local leaders an update on omicron today, saying "there's absolutely no reason for panic." "We will know more about omicron in a few weeks," she said, adding that in the meantime, the variant with the "unfortunate" name that sounds like something from outer space, has increased interest in vaccines and boosters at the Unidos en Salud/United in Health sites run by UCSF,the Latino Task Force and the San Francisco Department of Public Health. Havlir, who is the research lead for the Mission project, made her comments on a call to update the Latino Task Force. She cited familiar guidance: "Vaccines for adults and children, boosters, testing, [and] access to medications for high risk infected persons or people who do [get] breakthrough [infections] … or haven't got vaccinated yet." To read the full article, click here. Mission Local covers San Francisco from the vantage point of the Mission, a neighborhood with all of the promise and problems of a major city. You can support Mission Local here.