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 Biden said the country would not go back to lockdowns to stop the
spread of Omicron https://www.reuters.com/world/spread-omicron-variant-forces-nations-rethink-plans-global-travel-2021-11-29,
and he would lay out his strategy on Thursday for combating the
pandemic over the winter. He urged people to get vaccinated, get
boosters and wear masks.
"This variant is a cause for concern, not a cause for panic," Biden
said in remarks at the White House following a meeting with his
COVID-19 team.
"We're going to fight and beat this new variant," he said.
Omicron has prompted countries across the globe including the United
States to limit travel from southern Africa, where the virus was
first detected. The World Health Organization said on Monday that it
carries a very high risk of infection surges, but said no deaths had
yet been linked to the new variant.
Biden said it was inevitable that Omicron cases would emerge in the
United States. But White House spokesperson Jen Psaki said the
variant should not cause Americans to change their holiday travel
plans as long as they are vaccinated and wear masks.
Biden said he believed that existing vaccines https://www.reuters.com/world/how-worried-should-we-be-about-omicron-variant-2021-11-27
would continue to protect against severe disease, but added that his
administration was working with vaccine makers Pfizer, Moderna and
Johnson & Johnson to develop contingency plans.
"In the event, hopefully unlikely, that updated vaccinations or
boosters are needed to respond to this new variant, we will
accelerate their development and deployment with every available
tool," he said.
Biden said he would direct the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to make those
vaccines available quickly.
Separately, the CDC said all vaccinated Americans aged 18 years and
older should get a booster shot - a stronger recommendation than the
one it issued last week https://www.reuters.com/world/us/covid-19-boosters-for-all-discussion-moves-cdc-2021-11-19,
when the agency expanded booster eligibility to all adults but
stopped short of saying that everybody should get them.
[to top of second column] |
 A U.S. travel ban took effect
earlier on Monday blocking most visitors from
eight southern African nations from entering the
country. Earlier flights from South Africa to
the United States did not screen https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-does-not-impose-new-omicron-testing-passengers-southern-africa-2021-11-29
passengers after the variant was found.
The White House is not curbing Biden's travel
plans or canceling its holiday parties, Psaki
said. Biden said the travel
restrictions were put in place to give the country time to get more
people vaccinated.
 Vaccine hesitancy in the United States and around the world has
thwarted public health officials' efforts to get the pandemic under
control. Only a quarter of the population in South Africa is fully
vaccinated, while many western European nations have vaccinated more
than two-thirds https://graphics.reuters.com/world-coronavirus-tracker-and-maps/vaccination-rollout-and-access
of their residents.
Just 59% of all Americans are fully vaccinated, although almost 70%
now have had at least one shot.
Nearly 782,000 people have died from COVID-19 in the United States,
according to a Reuters tally https://tmsnrt.rs/2WTOZDR.
U.S. government workers were required to get vaccinated by Nov. 22,
but the White House told federal agencies on Monday that they can
delay punishing those who did not comply.
Much of the United States shut down in early 2020 at the beginning
of the pandemic, but economic activity and jobs have bounced back in
recent months https://www.reuters.com/business/us-job-growth-picks-up-october-unemployment-rate-falls-46-2021-11-05.
Face masks and vaccine mandates are opposed by some Republican
politicians, even as health experts tout their effectiveness.
(Reporting by Alexandra Alper and Jeff Mason; Additional reporting
by Susan Heavey and Manojna Maddipatla; Writing by Andy Sullivan;
Editing by Heather Timmons, Lisa Shumaker and Bill Berkrot)
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