New York: President Joe Biden has sought to reassure Americans about the new Omicron coronavirus variant, saying that his administration was working with vaccine makers to adjust vaccines and booster shots if necessary.
"We're pouring everything we've got at this virus, following it from every angle," Biden said during a White House press conference on Monday, adding, "I'm sparing no effort, removing all impediments to keep the American people safe." "We're going to see cases of this new type in the US sooner or later," he said.
"This variant should be taken seriously, but not as a cause for alarm”, he said. The President's remarks came as non-citizens entering the US from South Africa, as well as Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique, and Malawi, where the Omicron variant was first found and would face travel restrictions he announced on Friday.
Though it is unclear how effective the vaccines developed by Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson and approved in the United States will be against the Omicron variant, Biden stated that vaccines are still the best protection, urging everyone aged five and up to get the vaccines, and those aged 18 and up to get a booster dose.
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