News 12's Elizabeth Hashagen was joined by Dr. Matthew Harris to talk about the Omicron surge and COVID-19 vaccines.

Is the Omicron surge almost over? Are we closer to the end of the pandemic?

Children under 5 are particularly vulnerable right now because they are the only age group that is not currently eligible for vaccination.

Hospitalizations of children with COVID-19 are rising as the highly contagious Omicron variant has rapidly spread through communities across the U.S. over the past month.

Vaccine boosters provide robust protection against severe disease from the Omicron variant in the United States, according to three reports released Friday that show the shots are effective at keeping vaccinated people out of the hospital.

Three new studies from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention highlight the importance of getting a booster shot to provide the best protection against the Omicron coronavirus variant.

The studies have an enormous scope, involving millions of cases, hundreds of thousands of visits to emergency departments and urgent care centers, and tens of thousands of hospitalizations among adults.

Getting boosted was 90% effective at preventing hospitalizations during a period in December and January when Omicron was the dominant variant, according to a CDC study that looked at nearly 88,000 hospitalizations across 10 states.

In comparison, getting two shots was 57% effective when it had been at least six months past the second shot

Getting boosted was 82% effective at preventing visits to emergency rooms and urgent care centers, according to the study, which looked at more than 200,000 visits in 10 states.

In comparison, getting two shots was only 38% effective at preventing those visits when it had been at least six months past the second shot.