‘Not a cause for panic’: Biden urges calm in face of Omicron fears
WASHINGTON — President Biden on Monday urged calm amid widespread concern concerning the Omicron coronavirus variant first recognized this month in southern Africa, urging People to get vaccinated and put on masks.
Biden stopped brief, although, of advocating for any new Covid-19 restrictions, like requiring vaccinations to board home flights or re-imposing native masks mandates.
“This variant is a trigger for concern, not a trigger for panic,” he mentioned throughout a day speech. “We’ll combat this variant with scientific and educated actions, and pace, not chaos and confusion.”
commercial
In the course of the speech, Biden mentioned he’ll problem a brand new plan on Thursday concerning the authorities’s technique for combating Covid-19 all through the approaching winter. For now, although, he urged People who aren’t but vaccinated to lastly be immunized, and pushed any grownup who acquired their second vaccine dose previous to June 1 to return for a 3rd.
The president’s remarks come as governments throughout the globe scramble to reply to the emergence of the brand new variant, which the World Well being Group labeled as a “variant of concern” on Friday.
commercial
Little is understood concerning the new pressure, together with arguably the three most crucial questions: whether or not it’s extra transmissible than earlier variants, whether or not it causes extra extreme illness, and whether or not it’s higher at escaping the highly effective safety supplied by present Covid-19 vaccines.
Nonetheless, nearly instantly upon studying of the brand new pressure, Biden banned journey from South Africa and Botswana, the 2 nations that first sequenced the Omicron variant, in addition to six different southern African nations.
Throughout his Monday speech, he mentioned the transfer was an effort to purchase time for the federal government to be taught extra concerning the variant and for extra People to be vaccinated.
Biden brushed apart the critique that banning journey from nations that report new variants basically punishes them for transparency.
He additionally downplayed criticisms that the U.S. has prioritized its personal vaccine rollout, particularly the trouble to offer booster doses, on the expense of poorer nations, in impact leaving total nations unvaccinated and susceptible to the emergence of doubtless harmful new variants.
“Not a single vaccine shot People ever ship to the remainder of the world will ever come on the expense of any American,” he mentioned. “I’ll all the time guarantee that our persons are protected first. However vaccinating the world is only one extra software, and the way we have to meet our ethical obligation as People and the way to finest shield People as properly.”
Although Biden urged calm, he mentioned the federal authorities was additionally engaged on contingency plans with the three primary U.S. vaccine producers — Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson — to replace their pictures within the occasion the Omicron variant proves elusive.
“Within the occasion, hopefully unlikely, that up to date vaccinations for boosters are wanted to reply to this new variant, we are going to speed up their improvement and deployment with each obtainable software,” Biden mentioned. “I wish to reiterate, Dr. Fauci believes that the present vaccines present at the very least some safety towards new variant, and the boosters strengthen that safety considerably.”
Biden’s remarks got here simply weeks after U.S. regulators licensed booster pictures for all adults, following months of controversy and muddled messaging about whether or not they’re needed.
The federal authorities can also be transferring to safe entry to antiviral medicines underneath improvement from Pfizer and Merck, although neither has been accredited but and entry challenges may stop them from making a significant dent in hospitalizations and deaths. It’s additionally unclear whether or not the antivirals will show much less efficient towards the Omicron variant.
