will be so many people who are being isolated who are asymptomatic for the full ten days that you could have a major negative impact on our ability to keep society running. >> reporter: new cases skyrocketing to numbers never seen before, but deaths and hospitalizations, key indications at this moment are not climbing as quickly. >> are we seeing lower hospitalization rates because omicron is -- or lower hospitalization rates because we do have a considerable amount of the population that is vaccinated? >> reporter: booster shots for younger teens may now be just weeks away says the cdc, while younger children remain the least vaccinated age group in the country. >> you've got a screaming level of transmission in the northeast in new york city, in washington, d.c., trying to open schools at this point, it's hard to imagine how things will go well. >> reporter: despite the surge, new york city schools, the largest district in the nation,