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It's Your Week. We're looking at you, omicron.

Kristina Bravo ,  Alex Connor   | Paste BN

Word of the year: Vaccine.

Merriam-Webster reports lookups for "vaccine" increased 601% over 2020 when the first U.S. shot was administered in New York in December. Oh, what a year it's been.

There's a new pandemic-related word bubbling too: Omicron. It's a new coronavirus variant first reported in South Africa that has quickly become a global concern. Within the last week, it's prompted a new wave of travel bans and regulations – and there's still a lot we don't know about it yet.

And one more in 2021 buzzwords: Have you gotten your booster? 36% of Americans have.

It's Alex and Kristina, and this is Your Week, a weekly newsletter for subscribers. We hope you had a restful and relaxing Thanksgiving.

In this edition: We're telling you what we do know about omicron, as according to experts. And something to look out for this holiday season: Inflation could play Grinch with donations this year.

In all, it's a 5-minute read.

What to know about omicron

The omicron variant is likely to quickly spread around the globe, possibly with "severe consequences," the World Health Organization warned Monday. Here's what we know:

  • The WHO said there is currently no information to suggest symptoms associated with omicron differ from those associated with other variants. 
  • No deaths linked to the omicron variant have been reported.
  • The U.S. will need about two more weeks to learn more definitive information about the omicron variant's transmissibility and severity, Dr. Anthony Fauci told President Joe Biden on Sunday, the White House said in a statement. 
  • The variant has been identified in countries across the world, including France, Canada, Australia and Hong Kong. 

Make sure you're staying updated with the latest COVID-19 news with our Coronavirus Watch newsletter. From tracking travel restrictions to case counts, we have you covered. Sign up here.

(P.S. Here's how to pronounce omicron!)

Headlines of note

Inflation nation? Prices are going 📈

Economists attribute the rise in consumer prices to several factors: supply chain breakdowns, labor shortages and a sudden burst of spending.

Paste BN's Michael Collins spoke with Dean Baker, senior economist at the Center for Economic and Policy Research, and Mark Zandi, the chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, to break down potential solutions: 

  1. Would lifting tariffs on Chinese goods ease inflation? “It’s not going to make the problems go away," Baker said. "But it’s a way to put some downward pressure on prices.”
  2. What about working with shipping companies to ease the supply chain backlog? “It’s not as though he’s going to come up with something no one else has thought of," Baker said. "But he could perhaps do a little more by way of coordination.”
  3. Why did Biden tap into the nation's Strategic Petroleum Reserve? “Maybe it reduces prices briefly because refiners will be awash with oil," Zandi said. "But I just don’t view that as a viable policy to reduce inflation in a substantive way.”

A visual dive into 2021’s biggest stories

This year, we showed you broken parts of the environment, events that led up to tragedies, and new discoveries. Here are some of our best visual stories.

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As always, thanks for reading!

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