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Updated December 18th, 2021 at 14:01 IST

US: Kamala Harris says govt did not foresee Omicron; avers COVID 'no longer paralyzes us'

Neither the Delta nor the Omicron COVID-19 variants were anticipated by the United States' Joe Biden administration, according to Vice President Kamala Harris.

Reported by: Aparna Shandilya
US
Image: AP | Image:self
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Neither the Delta nor the Omicron COVID-19 variants were anticipated by the United States' Joe Biden administration, according to Vice President Kamala Harris. In US, both strains are now active and spreading. The newer Omicron strain is highly contagious and is likely to swiftly replace the Delta strain that spread during the summer.

Omicron, according to disease experts, could generate another wave of COVID-19 infections this winter and might become prevalent in the United States by early next year, potentially displacing Delta as the most common strain. According to several types of research, experts across the world suggest that Omicron is more transmissible but causes less severe disease than other coronavirus strains.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention anticipates that COVID-19 infections and deaths will rise in the United States during the next month, with more than 40,000 deaths predicted by January 8. Those forecasts may already be coming true in New York, which reported 21,027 new COVID-19 cases in a single day on Friday, the biggest number the state has ever recorded.

"We didn’t see Delta coming. I think most scientists did not — upon whose advice and direction we have relied — didn’t see Delta coming. We didn’t see Omicron coming. And that’s the nature of what this, this awful virus has been, which as it turns out, has mutations and variants," VP Kamala Harris told The Times on December 17.

Harris praised Biden administration's achievements so far

Moreover, she praised the administration's infrastructure package, maternal mortality work, and police reform efforts during the interview. She listed a few of the administration's accomplishments, including the expansion of the child tax credit and lead pipe replacement in the infrastructure law, adding that there is a lot more to be done, according to The Times.

As they near the end of their first year in office, Vice President Kamala Harris says she and President Biden have never discussed whether he plans to run for re-election. Harris, the nation's first female vice president, has been in the national limelight as a potential future Democratic Party leader, especially since her appointment as Biden's deputy. Biden, who is 79 years old, was the oldest president to be sworn in, and several Democrats have questioned whether he will run for re-election since the start of his term. According to the White House, Trump intends to run for re-election in 2024.

(With inputs from agencies)

Image: AP

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Published December 18th, 2021 at 14:01 IST

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