Biden warns of no-vaccine plan to crack down on Omicron’s rise By Reuters

By Steve Holland and Jarrett Renshaw

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – US President Joe Biden on Tuesday announced more federal vaccination and testing sites to tackle the rise of COVID-19 driven by the Omicron variant, and said there would be a quick 500 million free trial for Americans from January. .

Biden warned of the lack of vaccines, saying they had “good reason to worry,” and that those inoculated could be reunited for the holidays, although the new variant is expanding the country.

“No, this is not March 2020,” Biden told White House reporters. “Two hundred million people are fully integrated, we’re ready, we know more.”

Biden notes that some cities and states have introduced new measures to protect the public, including stricter vaccination orders.

With a serious tone about the dangers for four of the adult Americans who are not fully vaccinated, Biden said they are “at a significantly higher risk of ending up in hospital or dying.”

Biden said former President Donald Trump also received his booster shot. “Maybe it’s one of the few things he and I agree on,” he said.

Among the measures imposed on Tuesday, starting this week, is the activation of new pop-up vaccination clinics run by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the federal test site, including New York City.

Biden also said about 1,000 doctors, nurses and military doctors have been deployed in some areas to help hospitals affected by COVID-19 patients.

Biden’s pandemic response has been criticized for focusing on vaccines and masking to the detriment of testing and underestimating the impact of the U.S. vaccine movement.

In his speech, Biden said Americans had a patriotic duty to get vaccinated and called on social media companies and television networks to “sell lies and leave misinformation that could kill their customers.”

The new federal measures will not be fully implemented by Christmas, and will leave many Americans confused about finding evidence available before holiday meetings and travel, and confused about whether it is safe to move forward with their plans.

It was first detected last month and now the Omicron variant, which now accounts for 73% of U.S. cases, doubles infections in 1.5 to 3 days, according to the World Health Organization. It is not yet known whether it causes a more serious disease than the Delta variant.

The rapid rise in infections is once again shattering lives across the country, canceling events from Broadway shows to professional sports.

There were long queues in New York, Washington, and other U.S. cities for COVID-19 testing because people wanted to know if they were infected before the holidays.

“If I don’t, I can take the opportunity to send my family home, and I’m not trying to do that,” Ronald Tives said Tuesday as he lined up in Farragut Square, Washington.

$ 100 for a NYC BOOSTER

As new infections escalate, local officials are also taking steps to promote vaccines, including promoters, and to increase testing and mitigation measures.

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio on Tuesday announced a $ 100 incentive for residents receiving COVID-19 vaccine promotion in city-managed areas by the end of the year.

The city’s public hospitals said they would ban most visitors. From Wednesday, only children and babies in hospital, women in childbirth and dying patients will be able to have visitors. They must be fully embedded or show a negative COVID-19 test for the last 48 hours. The council had earlier said tests would be needed in the last 24 hours.

In California, Gov. Gavin Newsom said on Twitter (NYSE 🙂 that all health care workers should receive booster vaccines. The state is expected to announce additional measures on Wednesday.

Chicago will ask customers to submit evidence of COVID-19 vaccines for access to restaurants, bars, gyms and other indoor areas, effective January 3, Mayor Lori Lightfoot said Tuesday.

Biden noted that the Omicron variant is so contagious that it will infect vaccinated Americans, but that they will be less likely to become seriously ill.

These advancement infections are growing among 61% of the country’s fully integrated population, as well as 30% of those who have received booster impacts.

However, Biden told Americans that those who receive the vaccine and follow the guidelines for using the masks, especially while traveling, should feel comfortable celebrating the holiday as planned.

New COVID-19 cases have grown by 19% in the United States in the last week and have risen by 72% since the beginning of December, according to a Reuters count.

The number of COVID-19 patients hospitalized this month has risen by 27%, and hospitals in some areas are already cramped as a result of the Delta variant, which was set up earlier this year.

More than 51 million infections and 810,000 coronavirus-related deaths have occurred in the United States since the outbreak, the most in all countries.