US president urges people to get vaccinated amid global concern over new strain WHO says poses ‘very high risk. Joe Biden has urged Americans to get COVID-19 jabs amid global alarm over the new Omicron coronavirus variant, but the US president says the strain should be considered a “cause for concern, not a cause for panic”.
In remarks delivered at the White House on Monday, Biden said top United States health officials are consulting with leading vaccine makers and preparing for possible updates to account for Omicron’s mutations. But he stressed that the US was in a good position to control Omicron’s potential spread without having to resort to lockdowns or more travel bans for now – beyond restrictions already imposed on eight southern African countries.
“This variant is a cause for concern, not a cause for panic,” he said. “If you are vaccinated, but still worried about the new variant, get your booster. If you aren’t vaccinated, get that shot. Go get that first shot.” New COVID-19 variant: What we know about Omicron
Biden added that his chief medical adviser, Dr Anthony Fauci, expects current vaccines to work against the new variant, with boosters enhancing protection. “We’ll fight this variant with scientific and knowledgeable actions and speed, not chaos and confusion,” he said.
The US earlier this month expanded its recommendation for booster jabs to all adults, but an estimated 47 million US adults have not yet been vaccinated, according to data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). A ban on travel into the US from South Africa and seven other African nations came into effect on Monday, as countries around the world have imposed travel restrictions over the past several days amid concerns over Omicron. The point of the [travel] restriction is to give us time to get people vaccinated,” Biden said on Monday.
No cases of the Omicron variant have been reported in the US so far, but Fauci has warned the virus is probably already present in the country….. Source: aljazeera.com
