White House announces new COVID actions

With the omicron variant of the virus that causes COVID-19 surging around the world and in the United States - including being confirmed in Montana - the federal government announced it is ramping up its actions to slow the spread of the virus.

In remarks President Joe Biden made Tuesday, he said people do need to be concerned about the variant, but no one should panic.

"If you are not fully vaccinated, you have good reason to be concerned," Biden said. "You're at a high risk of getting sick. And if you get sick, you're likely to spread it to others, including friends and family. And the unvaccinated have a significantly higher risk of ending up in a hospital or even dying. 

"Almost everyone who has died from COVID-19 in the past many months has been unvaccinated," Biden added. "Unvaccinated."

"But if you're among the majority of Americans who are fully vaccinated, and especially if you've gotten the booster shot - that third shot - you're much - you have much, much less reason to worry. You have a high degree of protection against severe illness," he said.

The mutated version of the virus was first confirmed in southern Africa a little more than a month ago, and has rapidly surged around the world.

By Dec. 1, it had been confirmed in the United States and in less than three weeks has become the dominant strain in the country, with the variant accounting for 73 percent of new cases in the country.

Much is still unknown about the mutation, although it appears to be significantly more transmissible than previous variants including the delta variant that caused a massive surge in late summer and fall in the United States.

That includes being more likely to infect vaccinated people - breakthrough infections.

However, data indicates that people who are fully vaccinated - have received a vaccination within the last six months for the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines and within two months for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, and have received a booster shot after six months for Pfizer and Moderna or two months for Johnson & Johnson - appear to be well-protected against severe illness, hospitalizations and deaths due to infection with the omicron variant, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports.

Data indicates that even before the omicron variant became dominant, unvaccinated people were 14 times as likely to die if they contracted COVID-19 than vaccinated people.

And with the transmissibility of the mutation, officials are urging everyone to wear masks when in public indoor spaces, as masks prevent the spread of all variants of the virus by reducing the amount of moisture expelled in people's breath.  The virus is carried by moisture when people breath, speak, sing, cough or sneeze.

Biden said the federal government is taking numerous steps to help fight the spread of the virus, including the omicron variant.

One step is increasing access to testing, including providing home tests to people. Biden said his administration will offer, starting in January, a half-billion tests to people who want them, with a website being developed to let people request the tests.

The administration also is adding new federal testing sites around the country, and is using the Defense Production Act to ramp up production of tests.

The government also is increasing the number of federal vaccination sites and deploying additional vaccinators as well as adding flexibility to allow pharmacies to increase vaccinations.

And while the omicron virus may cause less severe symptoms than some previous strains - studies are ongoing on that - the increased number of cases is expected to lead to a surge of hospitalizations, as well.

Biden said his administration also is taking steps to help with that.

The federal government is readying 1,000 additional military personnel - military doctors, nurses, paramedics and other medical personnel - to deploy to hospitals as needed in the next few months, deploying six emergency response teams immediately to six states with a high number of new hospitalizations.

The federal government also is funding an expansion of Federal Emergency Management Agency teams to work with states and territories to assess needs and start expanding hospital capacity, as well as providing ambulances and emergency medical teams to transfer patients to other facilities if one medical center is at or over capacity.

The administration also has increased the federal stockpile of personal protective equipment, such as masks, gloves, gowns and ventilators and is prepared to ship them where needed, and is continuing to expedite the deployment of ventilators to states.

Biden said the key to beating the omicron variant is for everyone to get vaccinated and to wear masks in public settings. He said that can lead to a fairly normal holiday.

"I know some Americans are wondering if you can safely celebrate the holidays with your family and friends," he said. "The answer is yes, you can, if you and those you celebrate with are vaccinated, particularly if you've gotten your booster shot.

"If you are vaccinated and follow the precautions that we all know well, you should feel comfortable celebrating Christmas and the holidays as you planned it. You know, you've done the right thing," he said. "You could enjoy the holiday season."