A day after warning the unvaccinated that they and their families face a winter of death and doom, President Biden addressed the nation, presenting a strategy to fight the new omicron variant through free test kits, “emergency testing sites,” increased support for hospitals and expanded capacity to get Americans vaccinated.
“All these people who have not been vaccinated: you have an obligation to yourselves, to your families, and quite frankly – and I know I’ll get criticized for this – to your country,” Biden said Tuesday from the White House.
Later in his address, the president said the “resistance” to getting vaccinated, estimating 40 million Americans remain unvaccinated, has been “fueled by dangerous misinformation on cable TV and social media” that he contended is motivated by financial profit.
Biden said people who have been fully vaccinated and received a booster shot are “highly protected,” despite the growing number of fully vaccinated politicians and personalities who have become infected – reflecting trends in highly vaccinated states – and the apparent outbreak in the “99% vaccinated” White House. Further, research by Columbia University published last week found omicron is “markedly resistant” to all four COVID-19 vaccines. Although, other studies indicate booster shots could increase protection from single digits to more than 50%.
“If you are unvaccinated, you are at a high risk of getting severely ill from COVID-19, being hospitalized and even dying,” he said.
But the risk of death for the healthy has always been statistically near zero, and the data in South Africa – where omicron was first detected Nov. 25 – and early studies indicate omicron produces mild symptoms while being significantly more contagious.
Researchers at Cambridge University and the University of Hong Kong found omicron appears less efficient at infecting cells in the deep part of the lungs, which can lead to severe illness. The disease is manifesting mostly in the upper respiratory tract, the studies find, with symptoms more like the common cold.
The inventor of the mRNA technology behind the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines told WND in an interview Monday that the early data indicate omicron could act similarly to a live attenuated virus vaccine, producing mild symptoms and natural immunity to COVID-19 as it rapidly spreads.
On Monday, the CDC said the omicron variant has become the dominant strain of the coronavirus in the United States, comprising up to 73.2% of new infections last week, spiking from 12.6% the previous week. Omicron accounts for about 90% of new COVID infections in some areas of the country, including the New York City area, the industrial Midwest, Southeast and the Pacific Northwest.
Biden further said Tuesday the unvaccinated are putting others at risk.
The choice to be vaccinated “can make the difference between life and death,” he said.
“It’s those who are not vaccinated who are causing hospitals to be overrun again.”
Omicron, Biden further charged, is “serious, potentially deadly business for unvaccinated people.”
But the “uptake” in getting people vaccinated was slow last summer, he said, “as vaccine resistance among some hardened.”
“Look, the unvaccinated are responsible for their own choices,” the president intoned. “But those choices have been fueled by dangerous misinformation on cable TV and social media.
“You know, these companies and personalities are making money by peddling lies and allowing misinformation that can kill their own customers and their own supporters,” he said.
“It’s wrong. It’s immoral. I call on the purveyors of these lies and misinformation to stop it.
“Stop it now!”
See Biden’s remarks:
Biden also made the unsupported claim that “almost all” of the 400,000 Americans who died of COVID-19 this year were unvaccinated. According to the CDC, more than 95% of seniors are vaccinated while seniors account for more than 70% of all COVID deaths.
Biden coughed into his hand throughout the address after the White House told reporters the president was was “asymptomatic” after exposure to a staffer with COVID.
The White House told reporters earlier today Biden was “asymptomatic” after exposure to a staffer with COVID pic.twitter.com/XzE9FoIHbD
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) December 21, 2021
The president defended his vaccine mandates, which have been halted in federal courts. However, he noted a court last week reinstated his requirement that private companies with 100 or more employees ensure their workers are vaccinated or get regular tests.
“I know vaccination requirements are not popular — for many,” Biden said. “They’re not even popular for those who are anxious to get them. My administration has put them in place not to control your life, but to save your life, and the lives of others.”
.@JoeBiden: “I know vaccination requirements are unpopular———for many. They’re not even popular for those who—are anxious to get them. My administration has put them in place not to control your life, but to save your life——and the lives of others.” pic.twitter.com/qtIgXg1B6z
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) December 21, 2021
White House counselor to the president Jeffrey Zients warned on Monday that for “the unvaccinated, you’re looking at a winter of severe illness and death for yourselves, your families and the hospitals you may soon overwhelm.”
Biden said in his address to the nation Tuesday his administration will ensure hospitals nationwide have sufficient personnel, beds and supplies. The Defense Department is mobilizing 1,000 military members to deploy to overburdened hospitals in January and February. The president also has asked the Federal Emergency Management Agency to activate the National Response Coordination Center to assess hospital needs.
The administration is setting up new federal testing sites and is purchasing 500 million rapid tests to be distributed to Americans without charge. A website will be set up in January where the at-home COVID-19 tests can be ordered for delivery.
Biden also announced an expanded effort to get Americans vaccinated, with FEMA establishing pop-up vaccination clinics and deploying hundreds of additional federal vaccinators.
On Monday, the leader of the House Freedom Caucus responded to the White House’s pronouncement of a winter of death for the unvaccinated and their families.
Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., told Fox News Digital the statement “gets to the notion of what this has been about — and it’s about control.”
“Biden wants control. So, his minions, like Fauci was on saying from now on, you’re going to have to wear a mask on the airplanes forever,” Biggs said. ” … This kind of outrageous conduct is a method to try to create an ‘other’ — to create people to hate, to create people to ostracize, that allows them to claim control.
“To me, it is immoral, it’s disgusting, and it is absolutely sickening to me that the president of the United States would try to vilify people who are trying merely to exercise a health care choice,” the congressman said.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Last year, America’s doctors, nurses and paramedics were celebrated as frontline heroes battling a fearsome new pandemic. Today, under Joe Biden, tens of thousands of these same heroes are denounced as rebels, conspiracy theorists, extremists and potential terrorists. Along with massive numbers of police, firemen, Border Patrol agents, Navy SEALs, pilots, air-traffic controllers, and countless other truly essential Americans, they’re all considered so dangerous as to merit termination, their professional and personal lives turned upside down due to their decision not to be injected with the experimental COVID vaccines. Biden’s tyrannical mandate threatens to cripple American society – from law enforcement to airlines to commercial supply chains to hospitals. It’s already happening. But the good news is that huge numbers of “yesterday’s heroes” are now fighting back – bravely and boldly. The whole epic showdown is laid out as never before in the sensational October issue of WND’s monthly Whistleblower magazine, titled “THE GREAT AMERICAN REBELLION: ‘We will not comply!’ COVID-19 power grab ignites bold new era of national defiance.”
Content created by the WND News Center is available for re-publication without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact [email protected].
SUPPORT TRUTHFUL JOURNALISM. MAKE A DONATION TO THE NONPROFIT WND NEWS CENTER. THANK YOU!
This article was originally published by the WND News Center.
