President Biden Announces New Steps to Help Americans Combat the Omicron COVID Variant

 In an address at the National Institute for Health, President Joseph Biden, accompanied by Dr. Anthony Fauci, outlined steps to help Americans combat and withstand the latest mutation of the Coronavirus: The Omicron Variant.

Before the Presidents comments, the White House Press Office also released a summary of the major points and proposed strategies contained in Mr. Biden's address. These include:

• Getting boosters into the arms of over 100 million Americans that are eligible to receive one.
• Expanding Pharmacy availability throughout the month of December to administer the booster shots.
• A public education campaign (including with the AARP) to encourage people to get boosters with an emphasis on the senior age population.
• Outreach efforts to Medicare recipients.
• Asking on employers to give paid time off for workers (like the federal government does) so they can get their booster or first vaccination shots.
• Increasing efforts to vaccinate school age children aged five to eleven. There is also a review of COVID prevention policies in schools to help avoid school closures.
• Launching vaccination family clinics to immunize whole families.
• Expanding free at home testing for all Americans.
• Taking steps to ensure safer travel in and outside the country including requiring travelers to test for COVID 19 one day before traveling.
• Developing new vaccines for new variants like Omicron should they be necessary.

During his address at the National Institute of Health (N.I.H.,) President Biden closed by stressing:

"...The actions I’m announcing are ones that all Americans can rally behind and should unite in the fight against COVID-19. And they come from a position of strength. We are better positioned than we were a year ago to fight COVID-19. Since day one of my administration, we’ve been doing everything we can to beat this virus. And that’s what we have to keep doing. That’s how we keep our country and our businesses and our schools open..."

The President is right.

It is well past time for the people, opposed to taking steps to protect themselves from becoming ill, think of the common good and get vaccinated to keep the American People safe.

It is also well past time for some leaders in the former party of Lincoln (like Doug Ducey, Ron DeSantis, and Kevin McCarthy,) to stop catering to the insane whims of their science denying-anti vaxer base and call for everyone to do the right thing and get vaccinated.

This country has had the resources now for months to ensure every eligible American gets immunized against COVID 19. That is thanks largely to the efforts of the Biden/Harris Administration. 

It is time for these people on the fringes and the candidates that want their votes in the next election to do the right thing for all the American People and the country as a whole instead of putting the country through needless misery, price increases (yes, the people responsible for not getting vaccinated and the leaders that encourage them bear a major responsibility for the inflation the country is facing,) and blaming President Biden for the problems they have caused in an attempt to score political points.

It is time to believe in the science and support the efforts of those that are following it.