White House officials are drawing up a strategy to tackle the Omicron COVID-19 variant which scientists are warning may have already entered the U.S.
Dr. Anthony Fauci on Monday cautioned that the discovery of the variant, which is feared to be the most transmissible yet, was “not the time to panic.” Instead, the infectious diseases expert urged people to wear masks and get fully vaccinated.
More than a dozen countries have so far reported cases of the variant since it was first detected by South Africa scientists earlier this month, but the U.S. has yet to be included in that list. The World Health Organization (WHO) has labeled Omicron a variant of concern with a “very high” global risk level.
Epidemiology professor Stephen Morse, of Columbia University, told Newsweek on Monday that the new variant “may well have entered the U.S. already.”
President Joe Biden and advisers are this week strategizing on how to respond to the variant this winter. Biden will set out his plan to tackle COVID—including the new variant—on a visit to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) on Thursday.
“I think it’s almost inevitable there will be at some point that strain here in the United States,” he told Americans in an address from the White House on Monday.
He also indicated that the fight against Omicron will be with vaccines, “not lockdowns or shutdowns.”
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‘Get that shot’: President’s message to the unvaccinated
Biden had urged unvaccinated Americans to get the shot as soon as possible in the face of the Omicron variant.
At a press briefing yesterday, he pushed people to “get that shot” and told those already fully vaccinated to get their boosters.
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President Biden has warned that cases of the Omicron COVID-19 variant are “almost inevitable” in the U.S.
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