HOUSTON — Houston Methodist has detected its first nine cases of the omicron variant of COVID-19.
All of those infected tested positive for COVID-19 in early December.
Doctors haven’t said how mild or severe their illnesses are.
“What we can share is essentially these patients are from all over the Houston area,” said Dr. Wesley Long, Houston Methodist.
The news comes days after the Houston Health Department detected omicron in wastewater. Just like the patients at Houston Methodist, it showed up at water treatment facilities located all over the city.
“This is expected. The response shouldn’t be panic. The response really needs to be that our best defense is the vaccine,” said Long.
Booster shots are recommended for adults six months after receiving the second dose of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, or two months after getting the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
“With waning immunity, as we’ve seen with adults and we’re recognizing this as an issue with younger adults and adolescents…it’s important now more than ever to make boosters available to these older adolescents,” said Dr. Jim Versalovic, Texas Children’s Hospital.