Biden Omicron underestimates viruses that move too late – experts say Reuters

Author: Alexandra Alper

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – US President Joe Biden’s steps to protect hospitals and distribute coronavirus test kits, while welcome, are too late to halt the rise of omicron-related coronary virus cases at Christmas and New Year, health experts said.

A day after Biden announced plans to distribute 500 million coronavirus test kits at home, Anne Rimoin, a professor of epidemiology at UCLA, praised her focus on testing, a “critical tool” behind the “disastrous” United States.

“Unfortunately, it is too late and there will be a small drop in the ship compared to the tsunami of cases on the horizon.”

Tests ordered by the White House starting in January are only worth 1 or 2 per U.S. population. Homes need a lot more to make decisions about daily exposure, Rimino said.

“We need those tests now,” he said. U.S. trials are lagging behind the curve due to a lack of skilled workers, a shortage of domestic testing, and a lack of investment in recent months, according to interviews with more than a dozen officials, health care providers and probationers.

Biden, a Democrat who took office in January, campaigned for a promise to control the pandemic when hundreds of thousands of his predecessors, Republican President Donald Trump, were killed.

It is largely aimed at convincing Americans to get vaccinated, amid the backlash of many Republican leaders who reject vaccination and masquerade rules and the anti-vaccine movement driven by social media conspiracy theories. The U.S. has recently surpassed 800,000 deaths, the highest in the world, and its vaccination rate lags behind the richest nations.

Biden’s latest measures included a new pop-up vaccine clinic run by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the federal hot test site in New York and elsewhere, with health experts and local politicians welcome.

Biden said about 1,000 doctors, nurses and military doctors were deployed to help hospitals. He stressed that the uninitiated carry most of the burden of health risks.

‘NO, NOTHING WAS GOOD’

Asked about the lack of evidence in an interview with ABC on Wednesday night, the president said, “No, nothing has been good enough,” he added, adding that “I’d rather ask for 500 million tests at home” two months ago. “

Omicron’s growing state and local leaders in New York said they supported Biden’s approach. But other academics criticized Biden for assuring Americans that schools and businesses could be open and that vaccines could be safely collected without stressing the dangers they face if they don’t get a booster shot.

Omicron infections are on the rise among 61% of the country’s fully integrated population; Only 30% have booster shots that give them more protection.

“He went on to say,‘ vaccines work, vaccines work ’a mantra, like a talisman,” tweeted Gregale Gonsalves, a professor of epidemiology at Yale University, and Biden said he needed to clarify that Omicron was the key to protection against the variant.

Biden said the masks should become a more integral part of the answer.

“And in masks? Bupkis. Get people N95s and other better masks,” he wrote. “This seemed like a run-down administration to play catch-up run.”

“There’s a wave of infection coming in, and I’d like the president to emphasize that we can all do more – minimize the risk of transmission – vaccinated, promoted, or vaccinated,” said Stanford University health professor Joshua Salomon. politics.

The World Health Organization has called on people to cancel holiday rallies, saying “the health care system would cause more overcrowding and more deaths.” Instead, the White House said on Tuesday that it was following the CDC’s policy https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/daily-life-coping/holidays/celebrations.html, which recommends masks in public areas and in one’s head. -tests before reuniting with other family members.

“They’re on the path to the slightest resistance now. They know people are tired, people are disgusted. They know that talking about any tougher measures … will lead to loud shouts of Republicans,” Gonsalves said.

While the decision dodged more political backlash, some saw it as a missed opportunity, including Harvard professor Bill Hanage, who said he understood why the blockades were inappropriate, but described the reduction in activities as a useful tool.

“It takes time to send in quick tests,” he said. “People can choose not to go on holiday right now because they want to see Grandma on Christmas Day,” Hanage said.

Some U.S. cities, states, and businesses have not wasted time setting new mask and vaccination orders or canceling events, often going beyond White House recommendations.