President Joe Biden holds a COVID-19 briefing as cases continue to sky-rocket throughout the country.
On Monday night live from the White House, the president addressed the nation in regards to the growing numbers involving COVID, where he urged all Americans to continue to take precaution in the battle against the spread of the virus, especially with the surge of the Omicron rise in recent months.
“We have the tools to protect people from severe illness due to omicron – if people choose to use the tools,’’ Biden said. “There’s a lot of reason to be hopeful in (2022), but for God’s sake, please take advantage of what’s available.’ said President Biden on Monday night.
The President also emphasized the addition of the Pfizer antiviral pill to help reduce the number of hospitalizations linked to COVID across the country.
"Today, we are doubling our Pfizer antiviral pill order from 10 million to 20 million treatment courses. These pills have been shown to dramatically decrease hospitalization and death from COVID-19. They are a game-changer." President Biden said in a Tweet earlier this evening.
President Biden also stated that vaccinated Americans should still be cautious and considerate even though they are protected, and that unvaccinated Americans should be concerned and alarmed about the surging numbers linked to the virus, as they are living unprotected on a daily basis.
“You can still get COVID, but it’s highly unlikely that you’ll become seriously ill,’’ Biden said. “If you’re vaccinated and boosted, you are highly protected. Be concerned about omicron, but don’t be alarmed. And if you’re unvaccinated, you have some reasons to be alarmed. You’ll experience severe illness in many cases.’’
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on Tuesday that despite the on-going challenges regarding the virus, the country is in much better shape today than it was one year ago before the million of vaccinations that Americans have taken since then.
“We’re in a very different place than we were a year ago,” Psaki told the press. “Two hundred million people are vaccinated. Those are people who are protected, seriously protected from illness and death from the virus. We have also just purchased the largest over-the-counter purchase of tests in history.” she added.
