LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Louisville's Health Department is expecting the highly contagious Omicron COVID-19 variant's numbers to rise quickly, and is calling on the community to prepare days before Christmas.
Health experts said this would happen: It wasn't a matter of if, but when Omicron made it to Louisville. And for some families in the Metro, that was enough for them to head straight to their nearest vaccine clinic on Tuesday.
"Getting people to understand this is not a game," said Atina Broadnax, who brought her 15-year-old daughter Mackenzie -- who has an autoimmune disease -- to get her booster shot. "It's going to help in the long run because COVID isn't going anywhere."
Many families got their shots together with their kids at Neighborhood House's weekly vaccine clinic in the Portland neighborhood. WHAS 11 saw people of all ages, even teenagers and kids as young as five years old, get their doses just ahead of Christmas.
"If you get the shot and be a big boy, Santa Clause will bring you more toys," said 12-year-old Jermie, trying to comfort his little brother Jackson and encourage him not to be scared when getting the vaccine.
For some, the timing isn't a coincidence as Omicron has become the dominant strain in the country, and broken into Louisville.
"The Omicron variant is the reason why we're here today," said Jazzlin Hamilton, who got the third dose along with her parents on Tuesday night.
"We had plans to do it in February because we had plans to travel in February, but with this new variant, we realized we can't wait that long," said Deborah Vazquez, Jazzlin's mother. "We had to do it now, and whatever we deal with in two months, we'll deal with it then."
In his weekly COVID briefing, Mayor Greg Fischer -- along with Louisville's Health Department -- warned the community to prep for the variant known to be more contagious than Delta, and with risks more unclear.
"The jury is still a little bit out on Omicron in terms of how severe it may or may not be, but it is very, very contagious and very transmissible," said Dr. SarahBeth Hartlage, the Health Department's associate medical director.
Health officials are pushing vaccinations, including boosters. While admitting breakthrough cases may still happen, they're saying vaccines are still the best ways to avoid hospitalizations and death.
Meanwhile, Norton Healthcare, Baptist Health and University of Louisville's hospital all say they've also seen anywhere from slight to steady upticks in people getting tested in the last couple weeks, as holiday gatherings soon reach its peak.
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