(Washington) Joe Biden warned Thursday that the Omicron variant of COVID-19 was “there” and would “start to circulate much faster in the United States,” calling on Americans to get vaccinated and receive their dose of reminder for those who are already immune.
“The only real protection is to get your injection,” the president said, predicting “a winter of serious illness and death” for the unvaccinated.
Joe Biden called in reporters at the end of a meeting devoted to the COVID-19 pandemic to, he said, “get a message straight to Americans.”
It is “of the utmost importance” to receive a booster dose for those vaccinated, and to “receive the first dose” for the others, said the US president.
Shortly before, the deputy spokeswoman for the White House Karine Jean-Pierre had suggested that the administration did not intend for the moment to take specific restrictive measures, to focus instead on vaccination.
“The tools we have are working,” she said, adding, “We will continue to work so that Americans get vaccinated and get their booster shots.”
G7 health ministers on Thursday called for cooperation on the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, which they called “the current greatest threat to global public health.”
The epidemic outbreak linked to the new variant has spread to the whole world and travel restriction measures in particular are increasing in Europe.
The United States, which is already the most bereaved country in the world, currently records an average of 1,150 COVID-19 deaths per day, according to figures from the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC).