{"id":70015,"date":"2022-07-12T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-07-12T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kuwaitnewsgazette.com\/?guid=9e690473732f19dc92b5529a90fb5d8b"},"modified":"2022-07-12T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2022-07-12T00:00:00","slug":"white-house-stresses-vaccines-boosters-testing-against-ba-5-subvariant-of-coronavirus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kuwaitnewsgazette.com\/white-house-stresses-vaccines-boosters-testing-against-ba-5-subvariant-of-coronavirus\/","title":{"rendered":"White House Stresses Vaccines, Boosters, Testing Against BA.5 Subvariant of Coronavirus"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Citing the fast-spreading omicron BA.5 coronavirus subvariant that now makes up a majority of U.S. cases, the White House on Tuesday said it will ensure the availability of COVID-19 vaccines, boosters, treatments and testing to combat the disease.<\/P>
\u201cCurrently, many Americans are under-vaccinated, meaning they are not up to date on their COVID-19 vaccines,\u201d said Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, at a news briefing Tuesday. \u201cStaying up to date on your COVID-19 vaccines provides the best protection against severe outcomes.\u201d<\/P>
The subvariant, which the CDC says accounts for 65% of the variants circulating in the United States as of last week, reportedly could spread more easily despite vaccination or natural immunity.<\/P>
U.S. President Joe Biden\u2019s chief medical advisor, Dr. Anthony Fauci, speaking at the same briefing, said the subvariant does not cause a more severe illness or hospitalizations compared to other subvariants.<\/P>
“Variants will continue to emerge. The virus circulates globally and in this country. We should not let it disrupt our lives, but we cannot deny that it is a reality that we need to deal with,” Fauci said.<\/P>
The White House says it will focus on boosters, at-home testing, making good masks available and supporting people who are immunocompromised.<\/P>
“We can prevent serious illness; we can keep people out of the hospital and especially out of the ICU. We can save lives, and we can minimize the disruptions caused by COVID-19. Even in the face of BA.5, the tools we have continue to work,” said Ashish Jha, the White House’s COVID-19 response coordinator.<\/P>
“We are at a point in the pandemic where most COVID-19 deaths are preventable,” he said.<\/P>
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Source: Voice of America<\/P>
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<\/P><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Citing the fast-spreading omicron BA.5 coronavirus subvariant that now makes up a majority of U.S. cases, the White House on Tuesday said it will ensure the availability of COVID-19 vaccines, boosters, treatments and testing to combat the disease.\u201cCurr…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n