Asking Citizens Not To Panic And Will Prepare A New Vaccine, President Joe Biden: We Will Defeat The Omicron Variant

President Joe Biden inspects a COVID-19 vaccination center. (Wikimedia Commons/Official White House Photo)

JAKARTA - President Joe Biden urged Americans on Monday not to panic about the new variant of COVID-19, the Omicron variant, and said the United States was making contingency plans with pharmaceutical companies if a new vaccine was needed.

President Biden said the country would not return to lockdown to stop the spread of the Omicron variant. The president said he would draw up his strategy on Thursday to combat the pandemic during the winter. He urged people to get vaccinated, get boosters and wear masks.

"This variant is a cause for concern, not a cause for panic," Biden said in remarks at the White House after a meeting with his COVID-19 team.

"We will fight and beat this new variant," he said.

The Omicron variant has prompted countries around the world, including the United States to restrict travel from southern Africa, where the virus was first detected.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Monday the variant carried a very high risk of a spike in infections, but said no deaths had yet been linked to the new variant.

President Biden said it was inevitable that the Omicron case would emerge in the United States. However, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the variant should not cause Americans to change their vacation travel plans as long as they are vaccinated and wear masks.

In addition, President Biden said he believed existing vaccines would continue to protect against severe disease. However, his administration is working with vaccine makers Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson to develop new vaccines if needed.

"If it is necessary, hopefully not, that an updated vaccination or booster is required to respond to this new variant, we will accelerate its development and implementation with every tool available," he said.

President Biden said he would direct the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to make the new vaccine available quickly.

Separately, the CDC said all vaccinated Americans aged 18 and over should get a booster shot -- a stronger recommendation than it issued last week, when the agency expanded booster eligibility to all adults but stopped short of saying everyone should get one.

The US travel ban went into effect earlier on Monday, blocking most visitors from eight south African countries from entering the country. Previous flights from South Africa to the United States did not screen passengers after the variant was discovered.

However, the White House did not limit Biden's travel plans or cancel his holiday parties, Psaki said. President Biden said travel restrictions were put in place to give the country time to get more people vaccinated.

To note, only 59 percent of the total population of the United States has received a full COVID-19 vaccination, with nearly 70 percent of the entire population having received a dose of the vaccine.

Meanwhile, nearly 782,000 people have died from COVID-19 in the United States, according to Reuters calculation.