President Joe Biden has warned that the Omicron variant of coronavirus is going to spread much more rapidly in the beginning of the New Year, and repeated his call on Americans to get vaccinated.
Speaking to the media after meeting with Members of the Covid-19 Response Team, Biden said he wants to send a direct message to the American people: "Due to the steps we've taken, Omicron has not yet spread as fast as it would've otherwise done and as is happening in Europe. But it's here now, and it's spreading, and it's going to increase."
Biden said 83 percent of the eligible American population have received one dose of Covid vaccine, 202 million are fully vaccinated, and 57 million were administered the booster dose.
"For unvaccinated, we are looking at a winter of severe illness and death — if you're unvaccinated — for themselves, their families, and the hospitals they'll soon overwhelm," he told reporters.
With 138885 additional cases of infection reported on Thursday, the total number of people infected with the pandemic in the U.S. has risen to 50,513,437, according to the latest data collected by Johns Hopkins University.
The national total of Covid-related casualties has reached 803,652, with the addition of 1441 deaths in the last 24 hours.
New York reported the most number of cases - 17520, while Florida reported the highest number of casualties - 117 - caused by the pandemic Thursday.
Daily coronavirus infections climbed 31 percent and Covid fatalities by 23 percent in two weeks, the New York Times reported.
Covid hospitalizations are up 20 percent from a fortnight ago. 68,410 people are currently hospitalized due to the viral infection.
40,406,796 people in the country have recovered from the disease.
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