MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Biden outlines new COVID-19 situation in the US amid Omicron

Only the unvaccinated need to worry about Omicron, according to Biden

US President Joseph Biden Tuesday said the new Omicron variant of SARS-Cov-2 was something “we should all be concerned about,” but it was nothing to panic for those fully vaccinated. ”If you got your booster shot, you’re highly protected,” he added.

The President then claimed “almost all” victims of COVID-19 in his country were unvaccinated. “Almost everyone who has died of COVID-19 over the past many months has been unvaccinated,” he stressed. He added that those who got the vaccines and boosters have a “high degree of protection against severe illness.”

But then he added that “if you're not fully vaccinated, you have good reason to be concerned... You're at a high risk of getting sick... ”

The President urged people to get vaccinated and get booster shots, so they can safely celebrate Christmas and the upcoming holidays. Everyone still ought to wear a mask in indoor public settings, he also explained.

The head of state insisted his vaccination mandates were put in place “not to control your life, but to save your life, and the lives of others.” Biden also recalled these mandates had just been upheld by courts.

The President also announced 10,000 more vaccination sites and pop-up clinics for boosters were to be deployed in the coming days, additional ambulances and overflow hospitals were being built in New York and Maine, where infections are rising the fastest.

In addition to mandating health insurance to reimburse Covid-19 tests, the federal government is buying 500 million additional tests that Americans will be able to order for free, delivered to their homes in January, Biden said.

Biden also pointed out former President Donald Trump’s recent revelation that he had taken a booster shot, while giving his administration credit for developing the vaccines. “Thanks to the prior administration and our scientific community, America is one of the first countries to get the vaccine,” Biden said as he repeatedly blamed the unvaccinated for dying, infecting others, and causing hospitals to be overwhelmed. He insisted their choice not to take the jab was “fueled by dangerous misinformation on TV and social media.” He said it was “wrong” and “immoral” and people warning on social media on the adverse effects of vaccines need to “stop it now.”

“Are we going back to March 2020?,” Biden wondered. “The answer is absolutely no.” Biden warned of a potentially large rise in cases which could be accelerated by holiday gatherings, particularly among those who have not received their jabs, but said those Americans who have been vaccinated would be protected from the most severe outcomes - especially if they receive a booster. The Omicron variant is highly infectious and evades some antibodies. The new strain is said to have grown to represent 73% of cases nationwide in just two weeks. “What happened is the omicron virus spread more rapidly than anybody thought,” Biden replied. “If I told you four weeks ago it would spread by 50 percent, 100 percent, 200 percent you would have looked at me and said, ‘Biden what are you drinking?'”

Biden also outlined plans to send medically trained military personnel to hospitals this winter as they prepare for the possibility the omicron variant could drive one of the darkest chapters of the pandemic yet.