>> ERIC: AS WE'VE NOTED SEVERAL TIMES TONIGHT, FALL IS ON THE WAY, AND WITH THE CHANGE OF SEASONS COME QUESTIONS AND CONCERNS ABOUT RISING COVID CASES, NEW VARIANTS, AND THE LATEST THINKING ON COVID BOOSTERS AND VACCINATIONS FOR ALL RESPIRATORY DISEASES.

MIKE OSTERHOLM HEADS UP THE CENTER FOR INFECTIOUS DISEASE RESEARCH AND POLICY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA.

DOCTOR, TELL US -- GLAD YOU'RE HERE.

TELL US ABOUT THE EG.6 VARIANT.

WHAT IS IT?

>> WELL, FIRST OF ALL, LET ME JUST SAY, THE LAST TIME WAS ON, YOU ASKED ME TO KIND OF PREDICT THE FUTURE, AND I SAID I WAS SLEEPING WITH ONE EYE OPEN.

AND EXACTLY WHAT IS HAPPENING RIGHT NOW.

WE HAVE A COMBINATION OF THINGS GOING ON OCTOBER BUT FIRST OF ALL, LET ME JUST SELT SET THE TONE BECAUSE THERE'S A LOT OF DISCUSSION ABOUT HOW IT'S -- THE WHOLE SITUATION IS GOING BACK TO WHERE WE WERE SEVERAL YEARS AGO.

RIGHT NOW, WE'RE AVERAGING ABOUT 0 NEW HOSPITALIZATIONS A DAY, IN THE STATE OF MINNESOTA.

WHICH IS TRULY SIGNIFICANT.

BUT DON'T FORGET THAT DURING THE DELTA SURGE, WE WERE AVERAGING 260 NEW HOSPITALIZATIONS A DAY.

DURING OMICRON, 220.

AND EVEN AT THE BEGINNING OF THIS YEAR, WE WERE AVERAGING ABOUT 91 NEW HOSPITALZATIONS.

SO OUR NUMBERS ARE WAY DOWN WITH REGARD TO SERIOUS ILLNESS.

THE SAME THING IS EVEN TRUE WITH DEATHS.

WE'RE WAY DOWN IN THE NUMBER OF DEATHS.

BUT WHAT'S HAPPENED OVER THE COURSE OF THE PAST FOUR TO FIVE WEEKS IS WE'VE SEEN A BIG UP TICK IN THE NUMBER OF CASES OF OM CROONCASESOF OMICRON THAT ARE OCCURRING.

AND BECAUSE WE DISMANTELLED MOST OF OUR TESTING PROGRAMS, WE DON'T KNOW A LOT OF PEOPLE WHO ARE INFECTED RIGHT NOW.

AND IT'D UNCLEAR WHY THAT'S HAPPENING.

YOU ASKED ABOUT HE NEW VARIANT.

IF YOU LOOK AT EG-5 OR THE FLIP VARIANT THAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT, HEY COMBINED ACCOUNT FOR ONLY ABOUT 32% OF THE VARIANT ACTIVITY WE'RE SEEING HERE IN MINNESOTA AND THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY.

AND SO WE CAN'T SAY THAT THAT'S IT.

WE CAN'T SAY THAT IT'S WEATHER CHANGE.

WE CAN'T SAY THAT IT'S JUST FALL AND PEOPLE ARE, YOU KNOW, COALESCING MORE TOGETHER.

SO IT'S REALLY UNCLEAR WHAT'S HAPPENING.

BUT THIS ALL COMES BACK TO ONE POINT IS THAT WE ARE SEEING NOTED NEW VARIANT IS A MERGE.

BA2.86.

THIS ONE IS A REMARKABLE VARIANT.

IT'S ONE THAT HAS NOW HAS SPREAD TO AT LEAST 12 DIFFERENT COUNTRIES IN THE LAST FEW WEEKS AND THIS ONE HAS 34 DIFFERENT MUTATIONS ON THE SPIKE PROTEIN.

IT IS MORE DIFFERENT THAN ITS PARENT OMICRON WAS FROM DELTA.

AND THAT'S POSSIBLY MAKING THIS A NEW NAMED VARIANT.

THAT ONE, WE DON'T KNOW WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN.

THIS IS THE WAIT AND SEE, I'M SLEEPING WITH ONE AND A HALF EYES OPEN RIGHT NOW.

KNOWING THAT IN THE NEXT FEW WEEKS, I COULD BE BACK SAYING, WELL, THIS IS NOT GOOD.

BUT ON THE OTHER HAND, I'VE ALWAYS TAKEN THE POSITION WITH THESE VARIANTS, INNOCENT UNTIL PROVEN GUILTY.

SO I DON'T KNOW WHAT IT'S GOING TO DO.

>> Cathy: OF COURSE WE'VE GOT THESE BOOSTERS COMING DOWN THE PIKE.

BUT WE REALLY DON'T KNOW ABOUT THE FORMULATION IF IT WOULD BE EFFECTIVE AGAINST THIS NEW VARIANT.

>> FIRST OF ALL, LET ME JUST SAY THAT ALL THE DATA WE HAVE SAYS IT WILL BE FAIRLY GOOD AGAINST THE ONES I JUST TALKED.

THE EG-5 AND THE FLIP VARIANT.

WHAT IS UNCLEAR YET IS HOW WELL IT'LL DO AGAINST THIS BA2.86.

AND THERE ARE STUDIES GOING ON RIGHT NOW TRYING TO UNDERSTAND THAT.

AND O THAT IS IMPORTANT.

ALSO AGAIN, REMEMBER THE IMMUNITY THAT WE'VE HAD FROM PREVIOUS VACCINATIONS AND PREVIOUS INFECTION GIVE US SOME OVERALL PROTECTION AGAINST SERIOUS ILLNESS, HOSPITALIZATIONS AND DEATHS.

SURELY DOESN'T PREVENT US FROM GETTING INFECTED.

WE JUST TALKED ABOUT HAT.

IT DOESN'T KEEP IT FROM TRANSMITTING THE VIRUS.

BUT I THINK RIGHT NOW THE BEST HOPE WE HAVE IS THAT WHEN THIS NEW BOOSTER DOSE IS OUT AND THIS WILL BE IN MID-SEPTEMBER, IDENTIFICATION RIGHT AROUND SEPTEMBER 15TH, IF YOU ARE ONE OF THOSE INDIVIDUALS AT HIGH RISK, AND TODAY I MUST EMPHASIZE, THE VAST MAJORITY OF DEATHS WE'RE SEEING IN THIS COUNTRY AND RIGHT HERE IN MINNESOTA ARE THOSE 75 YEARS OF AGE AND LDER.

SO WE REALLY NEED TO GET THAT GROUP ACCINATED, MUCH LIKE WE TALKED ABOUT VACCINATING FORL FLU EVERY YEAR.

>> Cathy: I KNOW YOU'RE AT HOME TODAY AND NOT IN STUDIO.

I KNOW YOU'RE WAITING PROBABLY TO GET YOUR OWN VACCINATION I'M ON ASSUMING, RIGHT?

>> I AM.

I'M TRYING TO MINIMIZE ANY PUBLIC CONTACT.

I DON'T WANT TO GET ANY COVID CONTACT.

I'M DOING WHAT I CAN TO PROTECT MYSELF AND MY FAMILY IS DOING PRETTY MUCH THE SAME.

>> Eric: YOU AND SOME COLLEAGUES HAD AN OP-ED IN THE "NEW YORK TIMES" AND YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT WHAT'S THE FUTURE OF THINGS LIKE MASKING AND SHUTTING DOWN SCHOOLS AND VACCINE MANDATES AND ALL THAT.

WHAT SHOULD THE APPROACH BE COMING UP?

>> WELL, FIRST OF ALL, THAT'S A REALLY IMPORTANT ISSUE.

AND IT'S ACTUALLY A COMPLICATED ONE.

AND I'M WRITING A NEW BOOK RIGHT NOW THAT WILL HOPEFULLY BE OUT THIS WINTER THAT ADDRESSES THOSE VERY ISSUES.

TAKE SCHOOLS, FOR EXAMPLE.

WE REALLY MISFIRED IN UNDERSTANDING HOW TO RESPOND TO SCHOOLS.

THAT FIRST YEAR WITH THE STRAINS OF THE VIRUS HAT WERE CIRCULATING, WE ACTUALLY VERY LIMITED NUMBER OF SEVERE ILLNESSES IN KIDS, EVEN NOT THAT MANY INFECTIONS ITSELF.

SO EVERYBODY CONCLUDED, SEE, IT'S NOT A PROBLEM.

WELL, THEN THE NEW VARIANTS CAME ALONG, ALPHA, DELTA, AND OMICRON, AND KIDS ALL OF A SUDDEN, BECAME REALLY IMPORTANT CASES, AND WHAT I MEAN BY THAT IS IN THE FIRST YEAR, ABOUT 97 KIDS IN THIS COUNTRY, LIKELY DIED ROM COVID.

IN THE YEAR TWO AND YEAR THREE, WE ALMOST APPROACHED A THOUSAND KIDS A YEAR DIED FROM COVID.

AND SO WHAT WE DID, WE EPT TELLING PARENTS IT'S NOT A PROBLEM, IT'S NOT GOING TO BE AN ISSUE, WHEN IN FACT IT WAS.

RIGHT NOW I THINK WE'RE AT A PLACE WHERE I WOULD NEVER SAY CLOSE DOWN A SCHOOL AS SUCH.

WHAT I WOULD SAY, THOUGH, LIKE SNOW DAYS, IF WE START TO SEE ACTIVITY PICK UP IN A SCHOOL, JUST LIKE WE DO IF WE SEE WITH INFLUENZA OR R.S.V., I WOULD SAY, YOU KNOW, YOU MAY WANT TO TAKE A TWO-WEEK PAUSE TO SEE IF BY NOT BEING AT SCHOOL YOU CAN SLOW DOWN THE TRANSMISSION IN THE KIDS.

BUT THAT COULD BE THE CASE.

>> Cathy: ALWAYS A PLEASURE THANK YOU SO MUCH.