Infectious Disease Experts say this could be the variant that gets us to herd immunity.
>>> GETTING ANSWERS, THE CBS13 NEWS AT 10:00 STARTS NOW. >> CALLING IN THE NATIONAL GUARD. NOW AT 10:00, A NEW TESTING BOOST IN CALIFORNIA AS OMICRON FUELS A TIDAL WAVE OF NEW COVID INFECTIONS. THANKS SO MUCH FOR JOINING US, I’M ELIZABETH KLINGE. >> I’M TONY LOPEZ, THE NEW IS STREAMING LIVE ON CBSN SACRAMENTO. LATE THIS EVENING, GOVERNOR NEWSOM ANNOUNCING HE ACTIVATED THE NATIONAL GUARD TO SUPPORT TESTING SITES. YOU HAVE SEEN AND MAYBE EXPERIENCED LONG LINES. 200 NATIONAL GUARD MEMBERS DEPLOYED ACROSS 50 SITE INS HOPES OF INCREASING ACCESS TO TESTING. THE POSITIVITY RATE HIT 21.7%, AN ALL TIME HIGH. >> SO IS THIS SURGE GETTING US CLOSER TO HERD IMMUNITY? ADRIENNE MOORE IS GETTING ANSWERS IN THE NEWS ROOM. >> Reporter: THE SHORT ANSWER, ACCORDING TO LOCAL DOCTORS IS YES. THEY ARE STILL VERY CONCERNED ABOUT THIS SURGE IN CASES AND THE OMICRON VARIANT. BUT SAY COVID IS CHANGING. MUCH LIKE STRAINS OF THE FLU. AND BELIEVE IT WILL ULTIMATELY BECOME ENDEMIC. WITH OMICRON CASES SOARING, INFECTIOUS DISEASE EXPERTS SAY THIS COULD BE THE VARIANT THAT GETS US CLOSER TO HERD IMMUNITY. >> THAT’S THE SILVER LINING. EVENTUALLY EVERYONE WILL GET VACCINATED OR COVID. SO, WE WILL HAVE SOME SORT OF POPULATION IMMUNITY. >> Reporter: 94% MUST BE IMMUNE TO INTERRUPT TRANSMISSION. BUT WITH COVID, HEALTH EXPERTS SAY IT IS TIME SENSITIVE WITH ANTIBODIES DECLINING A FEW MONTHS OUT. WHILE GETTING INFECTED PROVIDES PARTIAL IMMUNITY, DR. DEAN BLUMBERG MAINTAINS VACCINES ARE STILL THE BEST WAY TO REACH THE NUMBER. >> THE MORE PEOPLE VACCINATED AND FINALLY DO GET PARTIAL IMMUNITY FROM INFECTION, THAT MEANS WHEN ANOTHER VARIANT COMES AROUND, EVEN WHEN IT CANNEST TAPE PREVIOUS IMMUNITY, THE PARTIAL IMMUNITY IS LIKELY TO MAKE IT LESS SEVERE AND MORE OF AN OUTPATIENT ILLNESS. >> Reporter: HIS PREDICTION? COVID INFECTIONS WILL BECOME MORE ROUTINE LIKE THE FLU AND WE WILL BEGIN TO LIVE WITH AND PROTECT AGAINST OUTBREAKS EVERY YEAR. >> I THINK WHAT WE ARE GOING TO LEARN TO DO IS LIVE WITH IT. IT WON’T BE A PANDEMIC IN THE FUTURE. IT WILL BE ENDEMIC. AND, WE WILL LEARN TO LIVE WITH IT JUST LIKE WE LEARNED TO LIVE WITH INFLUENZA AND OTHER RESPIRATORY VIRUSES. >> Reporter: AS FOR A TIME LINE, HE THINKS WE WILL BE IN A POST PANDEMIC WORLD IN THE NEXT SEVERAL MONTHS AND START HAVING ENOUGH IMMUNITY IN THE POPULATION THAT WE WILL NO LONGER BE
