Washington: President Joe Biden The new covid-19 version is called omicron There is cause for concern but “no cause for panic” on Monday and said he was not considering any wider US lockdowns. He urged Americans to be fully vaccinated, including booster shots, and face masks indoors in public settings to slow any spread.
Biden said it was inevitable that the new version would reach the US, but he also said the country has the tools needed to protect Americans – specifically approved vaccines and booster shots.
When Omicron comes, and it will be, Biden The United States “will face this new threat just as we have faced it before,” he said.
He appealed to the nearly 80 million illiterate Americans aged 5 and older to get their shots, and from the rest of the country to seek booster shots six months after their second dose. He encouraged everyone to wear face masks in all indoor public settings – a pandemic precaution that has fallen out of use in much of the country.
Biden was joined by Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert and the president’s COVID-19 adviser, who said earlier on Monday that scientists expect to learn over the next week or two how much of the current COVID-19 vaccine variant will help. protect well, and how dangerous it is compared to earlier strains.
“We really don’t know,” Fauci told ABC’s “Good Morning America,” calling the speculation premature.
The new version tests the latest of Biden’s efforts to contain the pandemic, ease its effects on the economy, and bring back a sense of normalcy in the US during the holiday season.
“This version is a cause for concern, not a cause for panic,” Biden said.
Biden moved last week to restrict travel to and from South Africa and seven other countries in southern Africa, effective Monday, to give scientists time to learn more about the new version, and for more Americans to hit the US. To get vaccinated before having it.
Some other nations are reinstating severe travel and business lockdowns to prevent the spread of the Omicron version, but Biden indicated the US was not following suit.
“If people are vaccinated and put on their mask, there is no need for a lockdown,” he said.
Fauci said earlier on Monday that the move to limit most travel from countries where Omicron was first identified would give the US time to learn more about the variant and “intensify” a home vaccination campaign. Had to do.
“It buys you a couple of weeks because if you can keep things in place for a couple of weeks you can do a lot of things,” he told “CBS Mornings.”
Pharmaceutical companies are already adjusting their existing COVID-19 vaccines to better attack the Omicron variant, but Fauci said Americans should prioritize their first shots or booster doses now rather than waiting for the new formulation .
“I would strongly suggest that you promote now,” he said.
He said that based on what scientists learn about the Omicron variant in the coming weeks, “we may not need” a targeted booster to stop that strain of the virus.
Biden said his administration is “leaving no stone unturned to remove all barriers to keeping the American people safe,” including working with drugmakers on potential new boosters and testing specifically targeted at the new version. .
Any Omicron-specific vaccine probably won’t begin production for the next two or three months, so getting a booster now is “a very important starting line of defence,” Dr. Paul Burton, chief medical officer for the vaccine manufacturer Moderna, said Monday.
Burton said Moderna and other vaccine companies are testing existing COVID-19 vaccines to determine how effective they are against the Omicron variant.
“If we need to build an Omicron-specific version, it’s going to take a few weeks, two to three months maybe we’re looking to actually be able to start manufacturing,” Burton told ABC.
Noting that the new version, as before, emerged overseas in areas with low vaccination rates, Biden said it was both a moral imperative and in America’s self-interest to speed up global vaccination. He said the US has already donated more than 275 million doses – more than the rest of the world – and is on pace to deliver more than 1.1 billion doses globally by September 2022.
“Now we need to step up to the rest of the world,” Biden said. “We can’t give up until the world is vaccinated.”
Biden said it was inevitable that the new version would reach the US, but he also said the country has the tools needed to protect Americans – specifically approved vaccines and booster shots.
When Omicron comes, and it will be, Biden The United States “will face this new threat just as we have faced it before,” he said.
He appealed to the nearly 80 million illiterate Americans aged 5 and older to get their shots, and from the rest of the country to seek booster shots six months after their second dose. He encouraged everyone to wear face masks in all indoor public settings – a pandemic precaution that has fallen out of use in much of the country.
Biden was joined by Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert and the president’s COVID-19 adviser, who said earlier on Monday that scientists expect to learn over the next week or two how much of the current COVID-19 vaccine variant will help. protect well, and how dangerous it is compared to earlier strains.
“We really don’t know,” Fauci told ABC’s “Good Morning America,” calling the speculation premature.
The new version tests the latest of Biden’s efforts to contain the pandemic, ease its effects on the economy, and bring back a sense of normalcy in the US during the holiday season.
“This version is a cause for concern, not a cause for panic,” Biden said.
Biden moved last week to restrict travel to and from South Africa and seven other countries in southern Africa, effective Monday, to give scientists time to learn more about the new version, and for more Americans to hit the US. To get vaccinated before having it.
Some other nations are reinstating severe travel and business lockdowns to prevent the spread of the Omicron version, but Biden indicated the US was not following suit.
“If people are vaccinated and put on their mask, there is no need for a lockdown,” he said.
Fauci said earlier on Monday that the move to limit most travel from countries where Omicron was first identified would give the US time to learn more about the variant and “intensify” a home vaccination campaign. Had to do.
“It buys you a couple of weeks because if you can keep things in place for a couple of weeks you can do a lot of things,” he told “CBS Mornings.”
Pharmaceutical companies are already adjusting their existing COVID-19 vaccines to better attack the Omicron variant, but Fauci said Americans should prioritize their first shots or booster doses now rather than waiting for the new formulation .
“I would strongly suggest that you promote now,” he said.
He said that based on what scientists learn about the Omicron variant in the coming weeks, “we may not need” a targeted booster to stop that strain of the virus.
Biden said his administration is “leaving no stone unturned to remove all barriers to keeping the American people safe,” including working with drugmakers on potential new boosters and testing specifically targeted at the new version. .
Any Omicron-specific vaccine probably won’t begin production for the next two or three months, so getting a booster now is “a very important starting line of defence,” Dr. Paul Burton, chief medical officer for the vaccine manufacturer Moderna, said Monday.
Burton said Moderna and other vaccine companies are testing existing COVID-19 vaccines to determine how effective they are against the Omicron variant.
“If we need to build an Omicron-specific version, it’s going to take a few weeks, two to three months maybe we’re looking to actually be able to start manufacturing,” Burton told ABC.
Noting that the new version, as before, emerged overseas in areas with low vaccination rates, Biden said it was both a moral imperative and in America’s self-interest to speed up global vaccination. He said the US has already donated more than 275 million doses – more than the rest of the world – and is on pace to deliver more than 1.1 billion doses globally by September 2022.
“Now we need to step up to the rest of the world,” Biden said. “We can’t give up until the world is vaccinated.”
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