Coronavirus Briefing: Omicron is here

• A C.D.C. sheet recommended that different vaccines be preferred implicit J.&J.’s.

• France banned nonessential question to Britain over the Omicron surge.

• The U.S. Army and Navy plan to disregard vaccine holdouts.

• Get the latest updates here, arsenic good arsenic maps and a vaccine tracker.

Omicron is here

The all-too-familiar messages came pouring into my telephone this week.

Vaccinated friends texted with Covid scares. A workfellow told maine connected Slack that interaction tracers had alerted her astir imaginable exposures 4 times successful 24 hours, earlier she tested positive. An acquaintance sent a hurried enactment connected Instagram: “I cognize astir 50 radical who tested affirmative successful the past 48h,” helium wrote. “I decided to support a database of names.”

The improvement whitethorn beryllium particularly stark successful my demographic — New York magazine’s Shawn McCreesh wrote that galore media radical and those astir them seemed to person contracted Covid this week — but information amusement that coronavirus cases are surging crossed New York City.

“We person seen a precise important summation successful Covid cases successful the past fewer days,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio. “It is wide that the Omicron variant is present successful New York City successful afloat force.”

The trial positivity complaint has tripled successful conscionable 3 days. Average regular infections are present somewhat higher than during the city’s archetypal highest successful the outpouring of 2020 and are accelerated approaching the grounds acceptable past winter.

Across the country, the mean fig of caller regular cases has jumped to much than 120,000 — a 40 percent summation from 2 weeks agone — and 70 percent much than successful aboriginal November. It’s not yet imaginable to accidental whether those cases are Delta oregon Omicron, but experts wide expect a question of infections from the newer variant.

Hospitals crossed the state — from Maryland to Arizona to Colorado — are already struggling to support up. In immoderate hard-hit states, national aesculapian workers person been sent to assistance exhausted infirmary personnel. About 68,000 coronavirus patients are hospitalized nationwide, a 21 percent summation implicit the past 2 weeks, and hospitalizations are expanding successful 42 states.

Vaccines, particularly boosters, inactive look to beryllium mostly effectual against preventing terrible disease. As Ed Yong writes successful The Atlantic, this creates a chiseled challenge, arsenic the menace from Omicron is acold greater for nine than the individual.

“People who are improbable to beryllium hospitalized by Omicron mightiness inactive consciousness reasonably protected, but they tin dispersed the microorganism to those who are much vulnerable, rapidly capable to earnestly batter an already collapsing health-care strategy that volition past conflict to attraction for anyone — vaccinated, boosted, oregon otherwise,” helium wrote.

This benignant of societal test, Yong argues, is 1 that the U.S. has repeatedly failed implicit the past 2 years.

“Individualism couldn’t bushed Delta, it won’t bushed Omicron, and it won’t bushed the remainder of the Greek alphabet to come,” helium wrote. “Self-interest is self-defeating, and arsenic agelong arsenic its hosts disregard that lesson, the microorganism volition support teaching it.”

A pandemic of intelligence wellness problems

As we caput into the 3rd twelvemonth of the pandemic, The Times asked 1,320 intelligence wellness professionals however their patients were coping. The responses were stark: Therapists find themselves connected the beforehand lines of a mental wellness crisis.

Social workers, psychologists and counselors from each authorities accidental they can’t support up with an unrelenting request for their services, and galore indispensable crook distant patients — including children — who are hopeless for support.

General anxiousness and slump are the astir communal reasons patients question support, but household and narration issues besides predominate therapy conversations. One successful 4 providers said suicidal thoughts were among the apical reasons clients were seeking therapy.

While determination were moments of optimism astir telemedicine and reduced stigma astir therapy, the responses painted a mostly grim representation of a increasing crisis, which respective therapists described arsenic a “second pandemic” of intelligence wellness problems.

“There is truthful overmuch grief and loss,” said Anne Compagna-Doll, a objective scientist successful Burbank, Calif. “One of my clients, who is usually patient, is experiencing roadworthy rage. Another client, who is simply a ma of 2 teens, is fearful and doesn’t privation them to permission the house. My highly work-motivated lawsuit is considering leaving her career. There is an overwhelming consciousness of malaise and fatigue.”

Your champion pandemic story

It has been a roller coaster of a year. Coronavirus infections soared and dropped. Vaccinations picked up successful earnest and past stalled. Borders opened. Delta surged. Schools reopened. And present comes Omicron.

Whew.

As we scope the extremity of this year, we’d similar to instrumentality a infinitesimal to bespeak connected what happened and however it went for you. What is the pandemic infinitesimal from 2021 that volition instrumentality with you for years to come?

Maybe it was learning that you’d tested positive, missing idiosyncratic who died from the virus, oregon your archetypal hug aft getting inoculated.

Whatever it is, we’d emotion for you to stock it with america and possibly besides with our readers.

As a challenge, we’re asking you to support your effect to a 50-word limit. (Here are immoderate Tiny Love Stories, for inspiration connected the format, and an online connection counter, if you privation to cheque your work.) If you’d similar to participate, you tin share your communicative here. We whitethorn diagnostic it successful an upcoming newsletter.

What other we’re following

• The E.U. cause regulator said Pfizer’s antiviral pills could beryllium utilized successful high-risk adults.

• Only 55 percent of U.S. nursing location residents have received booster shots.

• Federal researchers outlined a program for a cosmopolitan vaccine that could code Covid, communal colds and aboriginal viruses, NBC reports.

• Queen Elizabeth canceled a accepted pre-Christmas luncheon as cases surged successful England.

• Facing a cold-storage shortage, Nepal asked for a slowdown of vaccine shipments.

What you’re doing

Not happy. Forced to treble vax successful bid to enactment successful nine and work. Now we’re told we should not travel, and person to bash costly P.C.R. tests if we do. Schools are considering shutting down sports, masks proceed to beryllium enforced and boosters pushed. Why did we adjacent get vaccinated if we cannot unrecorded freely?

— Katie, Ontario

Let america cognize however you’re dealing with the pandemic. Send america a effect here, and we whitethorn diagnostic it successful an upcoming newsletter.

Sign up present to get the briefing by email.

Amelia Nierenberg contributed to today’s newsletter.

Email your thoughts to briefing@nytimes.com.