U.S refuses to “panic” over the advance of the Omicron variant of Covid-19, President Joe Biden said Tuesday, noting that the world’s leading power is “ready” to deal with the new wave of cases.
Already dominant in the United States, the new variant of the coronavirus spreads rapidly throughout the world, causing records of cases, as in Spain, which registered 49,823 infections in 24 hours.
“We should all be concerned about the omicron” but “not alarmed,” he said in a televised address from the White House. “This is not March 2020. We are ready,” he added.
Biden cited “three major differences” with the onset of the pandemic, starting with the existence of vaccines, also the abundance of personal protective equipment for health personnel who must deal with the flow of unvaccinated people in hospitals, as well like accumulated knowledge about the virus.
However, he warned those who are not fully vaccinated that they have “good reason to be concerned” and that it is their “patriotic duty” to get immunized.
The Democratic president asked to keep schools open and promised that U.S it will not relive spring 2020.
Biden It also announced that it will distribute millions of free tests of Covid in the country in the face of the advance of Ómicron, which has forced several governments around the world to reimpose restrictions in the face of Christmas and New Year celebrations.
“Celebrate late”
The strategy of Joe Biden It contrasts with tougher decisions that are made especially in Europe.
In response to the outbreak, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett announced on Tuesday that all Israelis over the age of 60 and medical personnel would be entitled to a fourth dose of the virus vaccine, after consulting with a group of experts.
Paris has already canceled its celebrations, while Germany It limited New Year’s Eve gatherings and parties to 10 people on Tuesday and banned the public at major sporting events from Dec. 28.
“This is not the time to have friendly parties and evenings with a lot of people,” Foreign Minister Olaf Scholz said after speaking with the country’s regional leaders.
The Spanish region of Catalonia It is also considering imposing restrictions, while Morocco announced a total ban on New Year celebrations.
The Netherlands has already imposed a Christmas lockdown, and European officials have warned that omicron could be the dominant variant in Europe by mid-January.
Meanwhile, Finland announced the obligation of bars to close at 9:00 p.m. on Christmas Eve as part of the new restrictions due to the increase in infections.
In Latin America, Colombia detected on Monday the first three cases of omicron and Mexico On Tuesday, he raised the number of infections with that strain to 23.
In Ecuador, the government ruled out confinement during the December holidays and Argentina established, only as of January 1, a health pass for those over 13 years of age that certifies the complete vaccination scheme for activities in closed places or massive events in open spaces.
The director of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, on Monday called on the countries of the world to redouble their efforts to end the pandemic and urged that the end-of-year events be canceled.
Better to “celebrate late than celebrate now and regret later,” he said.
Scientific career
Scientists are rushing to learn more about the omicron variant, first detected last month in South Africa and which has infected people with the full vaccination schedule around the world.
The head of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) said that it is too early to know if a specific vaccine is necessary to combat this variant, as information is lacking.
“There is still no answer as to whether we will need an adapted vaccine with a different composition to deal with this (omicron) or any other variant,” Emer Cooke said.
The comments came after the homologation this Tuesday by the WHO of the vaccine from the US laboratory Novavax.
The vaccine was licensed by the European Union on Monday, the fifth accepted on the block behind those of Pfizer / BioNTech, Moderna, AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson.
Officials hope that the Novavax vaccine, which uses more conventional technology, will help persuade those who have questions about vaccination.
The pandemic has already caused the death of at least 5.3 million people worldwide since the WHO office in China reported the disease at the end of December 2019, according to the AFP balance on Tuesday, based on official data.
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Reference-www.eleconomista.com.mx