Omicron’s Spread Means More Food Outages at U.S. Grocery Stores
From farm to fork, every aspect of the food supply chain is under increasing pressure from the latest virus surge
A customer shops for groceries at a store in San Francisco, California.
Photographer: David Paul Morris/BloombergThe highly contagious omicron virus variant is disrupting already stressed food supply chains, sickening so many workers that more shortages at grocery stores are all but certain.
Supermarkets have been struggling to keep food fully stocked throughout the pandemic as a result of labor shortfalls in every part of the food system, from farms to manufacturers to distributors. Now omicron is bringing the problem to a new level. The variant is raging across the U.S. and raising health concerns that many thought vaccines had put to rest. Schools and daycares are seeing closures again, keeping more Americans from work.