Anthony Fauci stated that revaccination reliably protects against the Omicron strain

Anthony Fauci, director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told U.S. President Joe Biden on Sunday that revaccination provides the strongest protection against the omicron strain of the new coronavirus. That’s what the White House said in a written statement following a briefing to the head of state by Fauci and members of the government’s COVID-19 team.

Fauci and members of the White House COVID team briefed the president on the latest developments related to the omicron strain. Fauci told the president that while it will take about two more weeks to get more accurate information on the contagiousness, severity of the disease it causes and other features of the strain, he continues to believe that existing vaccines will likely provide some degree of protection against severe cases of the COVID Omicron strain. Fauci also confirmed that revaccination of fully vaccinated people provides the strongest protection against the Omicron strain of COVID.

As highlighted in the statement, the government team recommended that “all vaccinated adults get another vaccination as soon as possible.” The statement noted that U.S. residents are eligible for revaccination if they were vaccinated six months or more ago with a second dose of American Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, or two or more months ago with Johnson & Johnson vaccines. “It is important that those adults and children who have not yet been fully vaccinated be vaccinated immediately,” the White House indicated in reference to the spread of the new strain.

Biden will issue a statement Monday, Nov. 29, on the situation with the omicron coronavirus strain and his administration’s response to the spread of the infection.

The Washington Post reported that the Biden administration intends to focus on population revaccination as a “key weapon in the effort to protect the country” from the Omicron strain. U.S. health officials on Sunday had a telephone conversation with scientists from South Africa to get an update on the new strain.

The U.S. side was told that it was too early to say whether the Omicron strain was more contagious than Delta. Experts still have little idea about the severity of the disease caused by the new strain and hospitalization rates. South African scientists expect to see more cases among those vaccinated against the new coronavirus. In about a week, researchers will be able to get a better idea of how well current vaccines protect against the new strain, the publication emphasizes.

Because of the findings, the U.S. administration will continue to urge the public to get vaccinated against covid, and to take steps to make vaccine doses available in as many locations across the country as possible. “We do know that when fully vaccinated people who have received two doses of Pfizer or Moderna vaccine are vaccinated again, their neutralizing antibody levels become extremely high – many times higher than even at the peak after the first two doses,” Fauci said.