Biden pushes shots, not more restrictions as variant spreads

Biden pushes shots, not more restrictions as variant spreads

SeattlePI.com

Published

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden will urge Americans to get vaccinated and receive a booster shot as he seeks to quell concerns Monday over the new COVID-19 variant omicron, but won't immediately push for more restrictions to stop its spread, his chief medical adviser said.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert and Biden's leading COVID-19 adviser, said Monday that there were as yet still no cases of the variant identified in the U.S. but that it was “inevitable” that it would make its way into the country eventually.

Speaking on ABC's “Good Morning America,” Fauci said scientists hope to know in the next week or two how well the existing COVID-19 vaccines protect against the varian t, and how dangerous it is compared to earlier strains.

“We really don’t know," Fauci said, calling speculation “premature.”

Any omicron-specific vaccine probably could not begin to be produced for another two or three months, so getting boosters now is a “very important initial line of defense,” said Dr. Paul Burton, chief medical officer for the vaccine-maker Moderna, said Monday.

Biden is set to speak later Monday about the urgency of getting vaccinated against COVID-19 to protect against variants, especially as roughly 80 million Americans aged 5 and up haven't yet received a shot. But Biden was not expected to announce any new virus-related restrictions, beyond last week's move to restrict travel from South Africa and seven other countries in the region, effective Monday.

Other nations were also moving to close their borders or reinstate lockdowns amid a host of severe measures to prevent the omicron variant from spreading, but Fauci indicated that the U.S. was not following suit.

Asked if more U.S. restrictions were imminent, Fauci said, “I don't think...

Full Article