President Biden tried to calm nerves around the omicron wave Tuesday, saying free available vaccines should blunt bad outcomes amid a record-breaking tally of COVID-19 cases from the variant.
As Republicans declared Mr. Biden’s COVID-19 response a failure, the president said rapid tests will be “restocked” and become more widely available in the coming weeks, though he did not provide specifics as shoppers confront bare pharmacy shelves. He also reminded Americans that insurers will be required to reimburse people for the cost of at-home tests as of next week.
And Mr. Biden said “schools can and should be open this winter,” because mitigation measures can keep children safe. However, some large districts have reverted to remote learning to start the new year.
“We’re going to see a continued rise in cases. Omicron is very transmissible,” Mr. Biden said at the start of a COVID-19 briefing at the White House from his scientific team. “But you can protect yourself and you should protect yourself.”
He also said people who received a primary series should get a booster shot, which is widely available.
“You can still get COVID but it’s highly unlikely, very unlikely, you’ll be seriously ill,” said Mr. Biden.
U.S. cases have skyrocketed in recent days, averaging nearly half a million per day. Hospitalizations haven’t risen at the same rate, which scientists credit to vaccinations and signs that omicron may not attack the lungs as badly as past variants.
Still, the sheer number of cases is causing a rise in hospitalizations among those who are unvaccinated, and those who have been vaccinated but haven’t produced an adequate immune response.
Nearly 100,000 patients are hospitalized, enough to tax clinicians in some parts of the country, but below the pandemic peak of over 130,000 in mid-January last year.
The Republican National Committee jeered Mr. Biden immediately after his comments, saying the record-breaking surge was a sign the president couldn’t keep his core pledge from 2020.
“Joe Biden campaigned on shutting down the virus — he failed,” Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said.
New data from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday underscored the fast-moving nature of the omicron variant first detected in South Africa around Thanksgiving.
Omicron accounted for 95% of sequenced coronavirus samples in the U.S. during the week ending Jan. 1, updated data show. It accounted for less than 1% of U.S. samples in the week ending Dec. 4, or shortly after scientists sounded the alarm over omicron’s mutations.
Omicron nudged out the delta variant at a startling clip through December, reaching 77% in the week ending with Christmas and 95.4% by New Year’s Day, according to federal data. The remaining 4.6% of sequenced cases were from the delta variant.
Congress is getting slammed by COVID-19 like the rest of the country, with positivity rates soaring and a growing roster of members reporting infections.
The U.S. Capitol’s physician, Dr. Brian Monahan, said the complex is seeing an “unprecedented” number of cases and a 13% positivity rate at its testing center in recent weeks, up from 1% before the omicron wave.
Dr. Monahan told members and staff to maximize telework and adhere to strict mask-wearing, preferably with N-95 face coverings instead of cloth ones.
Sen. Rob Portman, Ohio Republican, said Tuesday he took an at-home test before returning to Washington and it was positive. He is asymptomatic and will isolate himself at home for five days, meaning he must work remotely but cannot be in the chamber for votes.
For more information, visit The Washington Times COVID-19 resource page.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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