Writer says U.S. reaction to omicron is like waiting for fire to go wild before calling fire dept.

By the end of this month, COVID-19 deaths are expected to reach 800,000 in the United States. That's roughly double the number of people who died in World War II.

And while there's plenty to be optimistic about — including effective vaccines and new treatments — there's a lot of work left to do.

The arrival of the omicron variant shows us, again, that this pandemic is not over yet. Or, as sociologist and New York Times opinion writer Zeynep Tufekci writes, that it's time we got our act together.

She joins host Tonya Mosley to discuss omicron, what the U.S. is doing, and how we can do better.