MR. ZIENTS: Yeah, I would just add, consistent with what Dr. Walensky just said: You know, we have the tools to fight this virus, including Omicron. And we’re in a very different and stronger place than we were a year ago. And there’s no need to lock down.
We have effective vaccines Dr. Fauci just talked about, including against Omicron. We have booster shots for all adults. We have now a vaccine for kids age 5 and 11. That means we now have vaccines for 95 percent of Americans.
We know how to keep our kids in school and our businesses open, and we’re not going to shut down our economy in any way. We’re going to keep our schools and our businesses open.
Next question.
Q Let’s go to Serena Marshall at NowThis News.
Q Thank you so much for doing this. I was wondering —
MR. ZIENTS: Hey, Serena, you’re cutting out.
Q Can you hear me now?
MR. ZIENTS: We’re having trouble hearing you.
Q (Inaudible.)
MODERATOR: Hey, Serena, we’ll just get back to you. Let’s go ahead and go to our last question. Let’s go to Brenda Goodman at WebMD.
Q Can you hear me now?
MR. ZIENTS: Yes.
Q Americans are really tired, and there’s kind of a feeling of exhaustion out there from people that I’m talking to. You know, we’re heading into our third year, and Omicron is just right around the corner. And I think people are trying to read a really confusing set of tea leaves — you know, it’s more transmissible; the illness it causes may be less severe, particularly if you have some kind of underlying immunity.
So given all this complex stew of factors — and I know you’ve been looking at all of them — how worried should Americans be about Omicron, which is — you know, could be causing a surge, we’ve heard, around, you know, January or so?
MR. ZIENTS: Dr. Fauci?
DR. FAUCI: Yeah. Well, again, getting back to the theme that we have all been underscoring: If you are unvaccinated, you are very vulnerable, not only to the existing Delta surge that we are experiencing, but also to Omicron.
And when you hear about Omicron being less severe or not, and you hear about those other things, it doesn’t matter: If you are unvaccinated, you need to get vaccinated to diminish your vulnerability, and if you are vaccinated, to get boostered.
It is very difficult to predict — as you say, to read the “tea leaves.” So if you can’t read the tea leaves accurately, then do the things that we’ve been recommending — all of the recommendations from the CDC about prudence and wearing masks in indoor crowded places that are public settings, but also continue to understand the importance for yourselves and your families and your community of getting vaccinated.
Those are the tools we have. If we didn’t have these tools, I would be telling you to really, really be worried. But we have tools.
So, get vaccinated, get boosted, and the alleviation of the concern, even though we take all of this very seriously.
Back to you, Jeff.
MR. ZIENTS: Good. Well, thank you, everybody. We look forward to the next briefing.
11:49 A.M. EST
To view the COVID Press Briefing slides, visit: https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/COVID-Press-Briefing_15December2021.pdf
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