Dr. Norem joins the morning show on 1440 WROK every Monday at 7:05 to give us the latest on the coronavirus, COVID-19 and its variants, and the vaccine rollout. Dr. Norem has been joining us pretty much every week for about 18 months now. He was explaining things during last spring's lockdown, and he's been guiding us all the way through the pandemic. We learn something new from Dr. Norem every week and this week was no exception.

Last week when Dr. Norem was on the Omicron variant had just recently been detected in South Africa and hadn't been identified in the United States yet. Dr. Norem also shared with us that it was too early to really tell what an outbreak of Omicron COVID would mean for us.

Well both those statements have been updated since last week. The Omicron has been found in the United States, it hasn't been reported in Illinois yet but several surrounding states have so it's only a matter of time before we find it here.

As far as the severity of the Omicron variant, that news is a little more complex. While it is still early, Dr. Norem says that while the Omicron variant appears to spread a little easier than some prior variants and it also is infecting younger people, it doesn't appear to be any more sever than prior variants and might actually lead to milder cases.

It's still way to early to make any definitive statements, but Dr. Norem adds that people should be cautious in the time being. Still make sure you're vaccinated and go get your booster when it is appropriate.

We thank Dr. Norem for his time and look forward to his next visit in a week.

Answers to 25 common COVID-19 vaccine questions

Vaccinations for COVID-19 began being administered in the U.S. on Dec. 14, 2020. The quick rollout came a little more than a year after the virus was first identified in November 2019. The impressive speed with which vaccines were developed has also left a lot of people with a lot of questions. The questions range from the practical—how will I get vaccinated?—to the scientific—how do these vaccines even work?

Keep reading to discover answers to 25 common COVID-19 vaccine questions.

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