The U.S. shattered its average daily COVID-19 case record again. Experts say numbers will keep climbing in the coming weeks

COVID-19 Canada: CTV News' complete coverage of the coronavirus, which became known as COVID-19, in Canada and around the world.

But as the latest surge sweeps across the U.S., pushing cases and hospitalizations to unprecedented levels and altering daily life once again for many Americans, experts warn we're still weeks away from a possible turning point.

"Given the size of our country and the diversity of vaccination versus not vaccination, that it likely will be more than a couple of weeks (until COVID-19 cases peak)," Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's leading infectious disease expert, told CNBC this week. "Probably by the end of January."

And roughly 62% of the country is fully vaccinated, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Only about 33.4% of fully vaccinated adults have also gotten their booster vaccines -- a shot that experts say is now critical in helping further protect against severe illness from the dangerous variants circulating.

The Omicron variant -- the most contagious strain of the virus so far -- is spreading like wildfire across the world, with several European countries reporting their highest ever case counts.