G7 brands Omicron 'biggest threat to global public health' before Biden issues grim warning of a 'winter of illness and death' for the unvaccinated: Study claims variant is 'markedly resistant' to shots
Health ministers from G7 nations met on Thursday and concluded that the Omicron variant was the 'biggest current threat to global public health' after Columbia University researchers found the variant was noticeably resistant to vaccines and even a third booster might not fully protect against it, as President Joe Biden warned of a 'winter of severe illness and death' for those who were refusing to get vaccinated against Covid-19.
Britain's health secretary, Sajid Javid, chaired the meeting of his G7 counterparts - a discussion between the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan as well as the U.K.
The ministers, according to a British statement after the meeting, emphasized the importance of equitable access to diagnostics, genome sequencing, vaccines and therapeutics to monitor and counter the threat from the variant.
Javid said the emergency meeting he chaired had determined the threat the highly-transmissible variant posed to the world, saying countries were now 'united in ramping up vaccinations at home and abroad'.
The meeting came as Biden issued a stark warning about the risks the Omicron variant poses to the unvaccinated in particular, as the nation braces for a steep escalation in cases amid an expected surge in hospitalizations.
'It's here, it's spreading and it's going to increase,' Biden said on Thursday afternoon.
He was speaking after Columbia University researchers claimed that COVID-19 Omicron is noticeably resistant to vaccines.
In a study published Wednesday by Dr. David Ho and 20 other researchers, the scientists said that Omicron's 'extensive' mutations can 'greatly compromise' all major COVID-19 vaccines - Pfizer, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca - even neutralizing them.
The report, the first of its kind and conducted along side the University of Hong Kong, also said that while booster shots provided an additional layer of protection, the variant 'may still pose a risk' for those who get the third shot.'
The study does not prove booster shots are ineffective, and it comes a day after Fauci said the additional shots work against the Omicron variant and urged Americans to get their third jab.
G7 ministers met on Thursday for a meeting chaired by Britain's health secretary, Sajid Javid (pictured). He said the meeting had determined the threat the transmissible variant posed to the world and countries were not 'united in ramping up vaccinations at home and abroad'
'It's here, it's spreading and it's going to increase,' President Joe Biden said of the Omicron variant, as he urged Americans to get their booster shots
Biden spoke as he met with Dr. Anthony Fauci and members of the White House COVID-19 Response Team
Columbia researchers found that all four major COVID-19 vaccines (L-R) Pfizer, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson and AstraZenca failed to consistently provide adequate protection against the Omicron variant on there own. Booster shot protection proved consistently reliable but sometimes fell just above the line of acceptance
'Our booster vaccine regimens work against omicron. At this point, there is no need for a variant-specific booster,' Fauci said.
'If you're unvaccinated, you need to get vaccinated to diminish you're vulnerability, and if you are vaccinated, get boostered.'
The Columbia University study looked at the effectiveness of each major vaccine against the Omicron variant, finding several cases where they failed to provide the needed protection against infection. While the booster shots proved to be overall consistent, some recorded instanced put it right at the threshold of being fully effective.
'These findings are in line with emerging clinical data on the Omicron variant demonstrating higher rates of reinfection and vaccine breakthroughs,' the scientists wrote.
'Even a third booster shot may not adequately protect against Omicron infection.'
Ho and the Columbia research team said the study delivers a grave warning about the future of COVID and its variants.
'It is not too far-fetched to think that this [COVID-19] is now only a mutation or two away from being pan-resistant to current antibodies,' the researchers wrote.
'We must devise strategies that anticipate the evolutional direction of the virus and develop agents that target better conserved viral elements.'
With the highly transmissible new variant spreading at an alarming rate, amid an ongoing surge in the Delta variant, Biden warned of the threat facing Americans who have not received Covid vaccines.
'For the unvaccinated, we are looking at a winter of severe illness and death,' said Biden.
He also gave yet another hard sell for Americans to get booster shots.
'Get your booster shot. It's critically important,' he said.
'So the whole point is: Omicron is here, it's going to start to spread much more rapidly [in the] beginning of the year, and the only real protection is to get your shots.
The president said if you have 'everything, including your booster, you're in really good shape. So move now. Move now,' he concluded.
Biden wore a black face mask throughout his remarks in the Roosevelt Room in the White House.
Earlier, in an East Room ceremony with Medal of Honor recipients, Biden removed his mask for remarks, but put it back on when standing with other recipients or family members.
His remarks on Covid weren't all pessimistic.
'Due to the steps we've taken Omicron is not yet spread as fast as he would have otherwise done,' he said.
'But there's good news. If you're vaccinated, you have your booster shot, you're protected from severe illness and death, period.
'Number two: booster shots work.'
'Three boosters are free, safe and convenient. About 16 million people have been boosted. So go get your shot today. Go get boosted. If you've had your first two shots. If you haven't, got get your first shot. It's time It's time. It's past time.'
'And we're going to protect our economic recovery. If we do this, we're going to keep schools and business open if we do this. And I want to see everyone around enjoy that.
Joining Biden was coronavirus advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci and members of his coronavirus team, as well as Dr. Julie Ledgerwood and Dr. John Mascola of the Dale and Betty Bumpers Vaccine Research Center.
Biden served with Bumpers, the former Arkansas governor, in the Senate.
Biden began his remarks by waiving off questions in advance – after his deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre got peppered with questions at a White House briefing about the state of his Build Back Better plan.
'I'm not going to take questions today because I have a direct message to the American people,' Biden said.
The Biden administration is warning Covid test manufacturers and processing labs to be ready for a massive spike in demand over the next two months, a report revealed on Thursday.
Confirmed Omicron cases jumped 32 percent day-over-day on Thursday.
While scientists say it appears to be milder than the dominant Delta variant, they warn it could still pose a problem for people who haven't had their booster shot or are completely unvaccinated.
It's already exploding in the UK, where pubs and restaurants have closed early for the holidays and health officials fear there could be 460,000 daily COVID cases by Christmas Eve.
Britain's daily case rate hit an alarming record high with more than 88,000 people diagnosed in the last 24 hours.
Biden's health officials privately told the companies to be ready for demand to double or triple to up to 5 million tests daily, five unnamed sources told Politico.
HHS's Testing and Diagnostic Working Group is reportedly projecting that 3 to 5 million coronavirus tests could be needed per day in January or early February.
Currently the number is around 1.6 million per day.
An HHS official told DailyMail.com that 'We are modeling for a range of scenarios to prepare for potential future public health needs as we learn more about the Omicron variant.'
'Testing demand involves many behavioral variables, but we are focused on preparedness and continuing to make sure plenty of tests are available along with vaccines, boosters, and other tools to help protect the American people.'
New Yorkers were standing in long lines for Covid tests on Thursday, as new daily cases jumped 26 percent and the daily positivity rate doubling over the course of only three days, with the Omicron variant to blame for the worsening spike.
Jay Varma, senior public health advisor to Mayor Bill de Blasio, described the situation as a rarity on Twitter Thursday.
'Um, we've never seen this before in NYC. Test positivity doubling in three days,' he said.
He noted the city's positivity rate from December 9 to December 12, pointing out that it had doubled from 3.9 percent to 7.8 percent.
'Note: Test % is only for PCR & NYC does more per capita daily than most places ~67K PCR/day + 19K [reported] antigen over past few days,' he added.
Long lines were seen across all five boroughs as people waited to get tested, despite the city being 81.5 per cent fully-vaccinated, with 16.5 per cent of residents also having their booster.
People line up for a Covid test in Times Square on Thursday
Long lines of people waiting for a Covid test are seen in Brooklyn on Thursday
People line up in Greenwich Village, near some of the NYU buildings, on Thursday
Jay Varma, senior public health advisor to Mayor Bill de Blasio, described the sharp increase of positivity rate as something unseen before in New York City
Unvaccinated people are being hit especially hard by this surge, with official city data showing that 804.46 out of every 100,000 testing positive for the virus during the week that ended on December 5 - nearly doubling from 415.99 cases per 100,000 a week earlier.
According to city data, 96.81 our of every 100,000 vaccinated residents tested positive that week.
Gerlan Suela, a Healthline Force employee administering tests in Astoria, Queens on Thursday told The New York Post that business was booming at his plastic bubble on Steinway Street.
'Normally we have 25 to 30 people per day but this morning, in just an hour, I had more than 50 people,' he said.
'I started swabbing at 8:30 a.m. I ran out in an hour. I waited an hour to get restocked.'
Restaurant and nightclub manager Sunny Ahmad, 24, told the paper he waited 45 minutes at one site, only to find out that rapid test weren't available there.
Ahmad estimated he'd have to wait another hour to get tested but said: 'It's worth it.'
'I do it twice a week, not because of my job requirement but for my own safety and to protect my family,' he said.
In Brooklyn, a testing site in Williamsburg had lines around the block at lunchtime, as people checked their status.
In Manhattan's Greenwich Village, the LabQ Diagnostics mobile testing center at West Fourth Street and Sixth Avenue had run out of rapid tests by mid-afternoon on Thursday.
Marcos Vizcarrondo told the Post he was due to fly abroad on Saturday, ahead of a wedding on December 26.
He spent the weekend with friends who have since tested positive.
'I'll be so pissed if I can't travel,' he said.
In the Financial District, a man who works in the area was among about 50 people waiting to get tested in a tent run by EZ Test NY at Wall Street and Broadway.
'I'm traveling for the holidays so I am trying to take a quick test - but this doesn't really seem quick at all,' he told The Post.
'I'm going out of the country and with this new variant that's out now, I am definitely nervous.
'It just never ends.'
The city is also now recording 53.75 new Covid cases per every 100,000 residents every day, according to official data - a 26 per cent increase from the 42.59 figure being reported only two days ago.
Varma also said that 7.8 per cent of Covid tests in the city were coming back positive on December 12, a two-fold increase from the 3.9 per cent figure recorded only three days earlier.
While it will take around a week to find out how many of these cases are of the Omicron or Delta virus strains, either way, cases are spiking in America's densest city at a rate not seen previously.
Health experts and officials indicate another wave fueled by the Omicron variant is all but certain with a former White House COVID adviser warning it will be the dominant strain by January.
'Doubling every 3 days is a little jarring. 100,000 cases at Christmas would turn into 400,000 cases by New Years' Eve,' ex-Senior Advisor to the COVID-19 Response Coordinator Andy Slavitt said early Thursday.
'Holiday travel & family gatherings will be like gathering kindling together in a path during a blazing fire.'
The ex-Biden official provided what he termed a 'Covid update' on Twitter shortly after midnight.
'COVID Update: Omicron will peak in the US in the third wave in January according to a consensus of 10 scientists we interviewed,' he wrote.
The Omicron variant spreads 70 times faster than Delta, according to a recent study out of Hong Kong. But global health officials also say it's much milder.
Hong Kong University researchers found the new variant replicates 10 times slower in the lungs than predecessors - which could be why cases have not been as severe.
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