Fauci Opens Door To A New Nationwide Lockdown...
Published by Ryan Kelly for The Republic Brief
As the new COVID-19 variant Omicron emerges in a growing list of countries, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the White House chief medical adviser and director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said Sunday that the U.S. is preparing to tweak COVID-19 vaccines to account for the new strain. However, he acknowledged that it’s not yet clear whether it will be necessary.
“We’re preparing to [modify the vaccines],” Fauci said on NBC News’ Meet the Press, “but we might not have to.”
The World Health Organization (WHO) classified Omicron, first detected in Botswana, as a “variant of concern” on Friday. Political alarm spread quickly across the world, as the U.S. joined many other countries in slapping new travel restrictions on South Africa to contain the virus.
Omicron bears a troubling number of mutations that researchers believe could make it more contagious and possibly even evade vaccines and therapeutics. But scientists are still determining the potential impact of the new variant as it’s still not clear whether existing vaccines will offer a high level of protection or new formulas would be needed.
“Our South African colleagues are following to determine: Is this highly transmissible, but doesn’t really give a severe disease, or does it really give the same kind of severity that we’ve seen with Delta and other variants? All of these are gaps in our knowledge that we are all over and going to find them out pretty quickly,” Fauci said.
Fauci was dead wrong on almost everything he was supposed to be an expert on.
— Benny (@bennyjohnson) November 28, 2021
No one cares about his trash political opinions. https://t.co/sbJHtMkkFC
Omicron is estimated to contain about 32 mutations to the spike protein, compared to the 13 to 17 observed in the Delta variant, which facilitates the virus’ entry into the body.
Officials have warned that the variant has the potential of developing immunoescape mechanisms. Still, further studies will be needed to determine whether the adaptation is neutral, more dangerous, or less dangerous.
NOW - Dr. Fauci says "everything is on the table" when asked about vaccine mandates for domestic air travel in the U.S.pic.twitter.com/LqzjtusQIq
— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) November 28, 2021
As the threat of Omicron looms on the U.S., Fauci urged unvaccinated people to get fully vaccinated and fully vaccinated people to get the booster shot, warning that the country could face a fifth wave if individuals fail to take protective measures...
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