Covid cases rise by 948% in Florida as Omicron drives huge wave across US

Covid-19 cases in Florida have risen by 948% in just two weeks, as the highly transmissible Omicron variant drives a huge wave of infections and hospitalizations across the US.

Cases have risen by more than 100% nationally, despite tests being in short supply in many areas, and infections have doubled in the last seven days to an average of 418,000 a day, according to a Reuters tally.

In Florida, local and state officials warned that residents were waiting hours in sometimes miles-long lines just to get a test. Some accused the state health department and the governor, Ron DeSantis, of being missing in action.

The Food and Drug Administration decided on Monday that 12- to 15-year-olds should also be eligible for a booster, although the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention still needs to give the green light.

Some immunocompromised Americans are going back for fourth or fifth shots, though it is unclear whether doing so is safe or effective, the New York Times reported.

Dorry Segev, a transplant surgeon at Johns Hopkins University, told the paper that hundreds enrolled in a study he is working on have received unauthorized doses.

Most coronavirus infections on Capitol Hill have been occurring among the vaccinated, with the Omicron variant representing about 61% and the Delta variant 38%, based on a limited sample as of 15 December, Dr Brian Monahan told lawmakers and staff in a 3 January letter.