Over recent weeks, since before Thanksgiving, there has been a significant and steep rise in COVID-19-related hospitalizations for Americans 70 and older. Nationally, that rate now exceeds the peak of the BA.5 summer wave and the Delta wave in the summer of 2021 — and this surge is still in sharp ascent. This is a signal that we are in for some trouble.

Source: Op-Ed: COVID wave is rising in U.S. because immunity is down and precautions have grown lax – Los Angeles Times