Joe Biden calls Omicron COVID-19 variant 'cause for concern, not panic'; urges vaccination

New COVID-19 strain Omicron is a “cause for concern, not a cause for panic”, said US President Joe Biden while stressing on the importance of vaccination to combat the spread of infection. Speaking at the White House, Biden said that he was not considering any widespread US lockdown. He also urged people to get fully vaccinated, including booster shots, and return to face masks indoors in public settings to reduce spread of coronavirus. 

In his remarks, the US President called it “almost inevitable” that the Omicron strain will be found in the country “at some point”. He said that America will “face this new threat just as we’ve faced those that have come before it”. Biden appealed to the roughly 80 million unvaccinated Americans to get their shots, and for the rest of the nation to seek out booster shots. He also added that vaccine companies are creating “contingency plans” for new vaccines “if needed”. 

"We have the best vaccine in the world, and the best medicines, the best scientist and we're learning more every single day," the US President said. He also vowed to "fight this variant with scientific and knowledgeable actions and speed. Not chaos and confusion".

Further, Biden went on to praise the scientific community of South Africa for reporting the variant saying “This kind of transparency is to be encouraged and applauded because it increases our ability to respond quickly to any new threats, and that's exactly what we did.”

US ‘sparing no effort’ to keep Americans safe 

Biden’s remarks come after he moved to restrict travel from South Africa and seven other nations in a bid to give scientists time to learn more about the new strain. The US President has said that his administration was “sparing no effort at removing all roadblocks to keep the American people safe”. Noting that the new variant, like earlier ones, sprang up overseas in areas with lower vaccination rates, he also said it was both a moral imperative and in America’s self-interest to speed up global vaccinations.

“Now we need the rest of the world to step up as well,” Biden said. “We can’t let up until the world is vaccinated.”

The Omicron variant has been deemed a Variant of Concern (VoC) by the World Health Organization. A WHO official said that researchers are investigating the source of the virus that led to the recent spike in the African country, AP reported. Currently, experts are worried about how fast it may spread and whether it will cause people to become sicker than the existing delta strain of the virus. 

(With inputs from AP)