(NEW YORK) — A spacewalk by two U.S. astronauts was called off on Tuesday morning due to the risk of space debris, NASA announced in a statement.
NASA astronauts Kayla Barron and Thomas Marshburn were scheduled to leave through the International Space Station’s Quest airlock at 5:30 a.m. EST to replace a part on the space station, according to a NASA blogpost.
“Marshburn and Barron will work at the Port 1 truss structure, where the antenna is mounted. The antenna recently lost its ability to send signals to Earth via NASA’s Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System,” NASA said in the blog.
However, four hours before the scheduled spacewalk, the ISS tweeted that the repair would be delayed until more information was available.
The source of the debris hasn’t been confirmed. Two weeks ago Russia had conducted an anti-satellite test that created a “dangerous” debris field in the orbit.
The spacewalk was scheduled to last 6 1/2 hours and be Barron’s first and Marshburn’s fifth spacewalk, NASA said.
(NEW YORK) — Julie Anne Genter, a Green Party member of the New Zealand Parliament, is a keen cyclist who used her skills to bike to the hospital in the middle of the night while in labor Sunday. Within an hour of setting off, she gave birth to a healthy baby girl.
“I genuinely wasn’t planning to cycle in labor,” she wrote on Instagram later that day, “but it did end up happening.”
Genter shared photos of her nighttime journey on a cargo bike, smiling through contractions while locking up in the Wellington, New Zealand, hospital car park.
“My contractions weren’t that bad when we left at 2 a.m. to go to the hospital,” she said on Instagram. “Though they were 2-3 min apart and picking up in intensity by the time we arrived 10 minutes later.”
At 3.04 a.m., her daughter was born.
Originally, the plan was for her partner Peter Nunns to cycle with her in front, Genter told New Zealand outlet Stuff. When they realized there was too much weight with her hospital bag, Genter “just got out and rode.”
Genter is a dual U.S.-NZ citizen. She grew up in Los Angeles and moved to New Zealand in 2006 as a post-grad scholar at the University of Auckland. She credits her L.A. upbringing with her interest in transportation and urban design. She worked in transport and urban planning before becoming a Member of Parliament in 2011 where she has been an advocate of cycling and increasing bike infrastructure. Her baby girl was born two days after her 10-year anniversary in parliament.
This is the second time the lawmaker has cycled to the hospital to give birth. She did so in 2018 for the birth of her first child, although on that occasion, labor was induced, she said.
New Zealand’s parliament is one of the most gender-equal in the world, electing 49% female members in its 2020 election. It also has a reputation for being family-friendly.
The country’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern gave birth to her daughter Neve while in office in 2018, making headlines as one of the first sitting world leaders to do so. Genter followed her lead, bringing her firstborn to a UN meeting a year later.
In 2019, the Speaker of Parliament, Trevor Mallard, appeared in headlines around the world when he cradled and fed a bottle to a baby boy during a general debate.
Mallard told ABC News at the time that inclusivity is something that he focused since becoming speaker in 2017. “When I became speaker, I made it clear that I wanted the parliament to be much more family-friendly than it had been,” he said.
(NEW YORK) — A bitter cold is gripping the South with states from Florida to Georgia experiencing wind chills in the 30s.
The wind chill — what temperature it feels like — plunged Tuesday morning to 24 degrees in Raleigh and 31 degrees in Atlanta, Charleston and Montgomery.
A freeze warning has been issued as far south as Tallahassee, where the actual temperature fell to 30 degrees.
The wind chill dropped Tuesday morning to 15 degrees in Boston and 25 degrees in New York City.
Milder air will thaw the East Coast by Wednesday and Thursday. Temperatures are expected to reach the middle to upper 50s for Boston and New York City and near 60 degrees in Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.
Meanwhile, on the West Coast, more heavy rain is expected for Washington state and Oregon, where some areas could see 3 to 6 inches over the next few days.
Two weeks ago, over 1 foot of rain pummeled the Pacific Northwest within days, bringing rivers into major flood stages and flooding roads and neighborhoods.
(DAYTON, Ohio) — The suspect who carried out a mass shooting in Dayton, Ohio, on an early August morning in 2019 had an “enduring fascination with mass violence,” the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit concluded in a report released Monday.
Just after 1 a.m. on Aug. 4, 2019, Connor Betts killed nine people and wounded 27 when he opened fire in downtown Dayton.
It was the second mass shooting that weekend, after 23 people were killed at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, the day before.
After a mass shooting or incident, it is typical for the FBI to use its Behavioral Analysis Unit to try and determine a motive or find other factors at play when an attacker carries out an incident.
The FBI concluded in its report that Betts “likely violated federal law” by lying to federal investigators about his drug use when he purchased the gun used in the attack.
The agency also concluded that Betts likely suffered from mental illness.
“The FBI’s BAU assessed the attacker’s enduring fascination with mass violence and his inability to cope with a convergence of personal factors, to include a decade-long struggle with multiple mental health stressors and the successive loss of significant stabilizing anchors experienced prior to August 4, 2019, likely were the primary contributors to the timing and finality of his decision to commit a mass shooting in Dayton, Ohio,” the report stated.
There were no specific warnings that Betts would one day commit a crime, the FBI said, despite having “suicidal and violent fantasies” for over a decade.
“This underscores the importance of bystanders’ attentiveness to more subtle changes an individual may exhibit that could be indicative of their decision to commit violence, such as a change in personal circumstances, an increase in perceived stressors, or language indicating they may be contemplating suicide,” the FBI said.
One reason that family and friends did not alert authorities about Betts was potentially because of “bystander fatigue,” according to the report. Bystander fatigue occurs when people around the suspect don’t pay attention or take any action “due to their prolonged exposure to the person’s erratic or otherwise troubling behavior over time,” according to the Behavioral Analysis Unit.
The special agent in charge of the FBI’s Cincinnati field office said there were some technical issues with the investigation that made it harder to get to the bottom of what happened.
“Finding answers for the victims and their families has been a driving motivator each day,” FBI Cincinnati Special Agent in Charge J. William Rivers said in a statement.
“From the start, this has been a thorough and deliberate investigation. Due to technical challenges accessing lawfully acquired evidence that was encrypted, this investigation has taken significantly longer than expected,” he said. “However, we are confident that it has uncovered the key facts and that we have done everything in our ability to provide answers to all those impacted by this horrible attack.”
(NEW YORK) — “The biggest science event of the year quickly became the biggest political debate in our country, and the word at the center of both stories is vaccine,” Peter Sokolowski, Merriam-Webster’s editor at large, said in a press release. “Few words can express so much about one moment in time.”
The selection, which is based on search volume, comes as more than 196 million Americans are fully vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus. The dictionary publishing company said in a press release Monday that even though the choice may be seen as “obvious,” data from its website’s search history paints a more complicated picture.
“Vaccine lookups increased 600%, and the story is about much more than medicine,” Sokolowski said in the press release. “It was at the center of debates about personal choice, political affiliation, professional regulations, school safety, healthcare inequity, and so much more.”
Sokolowski told ABC News on Monday that there was already increased search for vaccines coming into the year, as the first shots were administered in late 2020. Those searches continued in 2021, spiking in early summer and fall.
The dictionary publisher also expanded its definition of vaccine to include scientific advances in how vaccines work, adding information about the use of mRNA technology.
“Insurrection” was a notable runner-up as searches for the term spiked following the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Sokolowski told ABC News that there was a 61,000% increase in searches for the word following the attack.
Another contender was “infrastructure,” which spiked in April as President Joe Biden made his pitch for a more than $2 trillion package investing in infrastructure.
Other words related to pop culture and lifestyle also trended, including “nomad,” which spiked after “Nomadland” swept the Oscars in April. The word “cicada” increased by 1,442% in May as Brood X emerged in the Northeast, with millions of the insects making their noisy entrances.
Sokolowski said some of 2021’s most popular words, like vaccine, may already be in the vocabulary of the average American and that the interest in the words may have “nothing to do with the spelling of vaccine, but it has a lot to do with our understanding of vaccines.”
“I’m betting most of the words that you look up in a given day are words that you have encountered before,” Sokolowski told ABC News. “Looking up a word isn’t the signal of ignorance, it’s the opposite of ignorance. It means that you want to know more nuanced, more specific knowledge”
(NEW YORK) — As the COVID-19 pandemic has swept the globe, more than 5.2 million people have died from the disease worldwide, including over 778,000 Americans, according to real-time data compiled by Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering.
Just 59.3% of the population in the United States is fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Nov 30, 7:22 am
Omicron was circulating in the Netherlands 11 days ago, authorities say
Dutch health authorities announced Tuesday that they have detected omicron in two previously tested samples, dating back as much as 11 days, indicating that the new variant was already circulating in western Europe before it was first identified in southern Africa.
The Netherlands’ National Institute for Public Health and the Environment said it discovered omicron in samples dated Nov. 19 and Nov. 23, preceding the cases found among people traveling from South Africa to the Amsterdam Airport Schiphol on Nov. 26.
“It is not yet clear whether these people had also visited southern Africa,” the institute said in a statement Tuesday.
Out of 624 passengers returning from South Africa who were tested for COVID-19 at the Amsterdam Airport Schiphol on Nov. 26, 61 tested positive, including 14 with the omicron variant.
“Laboratory tests identified several different strains of the omicron variant,” the institute said. “This means that the people were very probably infected independently from each other, from different sources and in different locations.”
The omicron variant was first reported to World Health Organization from South Africa on Nov. 24.
Nov 30, 6:48 am
Top South African scientist slams travel bans in response to omicron
One of the South African scientists who helped identify the omicron variant took to Twitter to slam the travel bans imposed on southern African countries as a result of their discovery.
Tulio de Oliveira, director of the Center for Epidemic Response and Innovation in Stellenbosch, South Africa, tweeted Monday night that he had “spent a big part” of his day speaking with genomic and biotech companies because “soon” his team “will run out of reagents as airplanes are not flying to South Africa.”
In a series of tweets last week, de Oliveira urged the world to “provide support to South Africa and Africa and not discriminate or isolate it.”
“We have been very transparent with scientific information. We identified, made data public, and raised the alarm as the infections are just increasing. We did this to protect our country and the world in spite of potentially suffering massive discrimination,” he tweeted.
“This new variant is really worrisome at the mutational level. South Africa and Africa will need support (financially, public health, scientific) to control it so it does not spread in the world. Our poor and deprived population can not be in lockdown without financial support,” he said in another tweet.
De Oliveira, who is leading a team of scientists analyzing the genomic sequencing of the new variant, issued an appeal to billionaires and financial institutions to support South Africa and the African continent.
“We do have funding for science, but South Africa and Africa need financial help to support their deprived population and health system,” he tweeted. “By protecting its poor and oppressed population we will protect the world.”
Nov 30, 5:16 am
Japan confirms 1st case of omicron variant
Japan confirmed on Tuesday its first case of the omicron variant, according to Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno.
Matsuno told a press conference that the patient is a man in his 30s who tested positive for COVID-19 upon arrival at Japan’s Narita International Airport on Sunday after traveling from Namibia. A genome analysis confirmed Tuesday that he was infected with the new variant, which was first identified in southern Africa last week.
The man was isolated and is being treated at a hospital, according to Matsuno, who refused to disclose the patient’s nationality. His travel companions and the passengers who sat nearby have been identified and referred to Japanese health authorities, Matsuno said.
Earlier this week, Japan announced that it will ban all foreign visitors starting Tuesday as an emergency precaution against omicron, which the World Health Organization has classified as a “variant of concern.” The government is also requiring Japanese nationals and foreigners with resident permits to quarantine 14 days upon entry.
-ABC News’ Anthony Trotter
Nov 29, 7:04 pm
3rd omicron case detected in Canada
A third person in Canada has tested positive for the omicron COVID-19 variant, health officials announced Monday.
The province of Quebec has confirmed its first case of the variant, Quebec Health Minister Christian Dube told reporters at a press conference in Montreal.
The woman who tested positive had traveled to Nigeria, said Canada Director of Public Health Dr. Horacio Arruda.
Two cases of the variant had been previously detected in Ontario, officials said Sunday.
-ABC News’ Darren Reynolds
Nov 29, 6:06 pm
Pfizer to ask FDA to authorize boosters for people 16-17: Source
Pfizer is going to ask the Food and Drug Administration in the coming days to authorize COVID-19 booster shots for 16- and 17-year-olds, a source familiar with the discussions confirmed to ABC News.
This would expand booster access from everyone over 18 to everyone over 16.
Pfizer vaccines were authorized for adolescents in May, so many fully vaccinated people are nearing their six-month mark amid growing concern over the omicron variant.
-ABC News’ Cheyenne Haslett
Nov 29, 4:15 pm
CDC strengthens booster recommendations
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday strengthened its recommendation on booster doses for adults.
The previous recommendation was that all adults 50 and older should get a booster, and those 18 to 49 may want to get boosters. Now, the CDC says all adults should get a booster shot six months after their Pfizer or Moderna vaccines or two months after the Johnson & Johnson shot.
CDC director Rochelle Walensky said, “I strongly encourage the 47 million adults who are not yet vaccinated to get vaccinated as soon as possible and to vaccinate the children and teens in their families as well because strong immunity will likely prevent serious illness.”
(NEW YORK) — As the COVID-19 pandemic has swept the globe, more than 5.2 million people have died from the disease worldwide, including over 778,000 Americans, according to real-time data compiled by Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering.
Just 59.3% of the population in the United States is fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Nov 30, 10:53 am
FDA says it’s working quickly as possible to evaluate omicron
The FDA in a new statement said it’s working as quickly as possible to evaluate the potential impact of omicron on the currently available diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines.
“Historically, the work to obtain the genetic information and patient samples for variants and then perform the testing needed to evaluate their impact takes time,’ the FDA said. “However, we expect the vast majority of this work to be completed in the coming weeks.”
The FDA stressed that vaccines, boosters and masks are the best ways to stay protected.
-ABC News’ Eric M. Strauss
Nov 30, 9:53 am
Passengers arriving in US from South Africa sent home with testing kits
The CDC said passengers who arrived in the U.S. from Johannesburg, South Africa, on Sunday — before travel restrictions took effect — were offered free at-home PCR testing kits.
Passengers were told to wait three to five days before collecting a sample that they could then mail back for testing. It’s not clear how many have done so or if any were positive.
-ABC News’ Anne Flaherty
Nov 30, 8:52 am
Global case count of omicron variant tops 200
More than 200 confirmed cases of the omicron variant, first identified in Southern Africa, have been reported in over a dozen countries around the world, according to an open-source tracker run by Newsnodes and BNO News.
The tracker shows South Africa has the highest tally by far, with 114 confirmed cases, followed by 19 in Botswana; 14 in The Netherlands; 13 in Portugal; 11 in the United Kingdom; five in Australia; five in Germany; five in Canada; five in Hong Kong; four in Italy; two in Israel; two in Denmark; one in the French island territory of Reunion; one in Austria; one in Sweden; one in Belgium; one in Czech Republic; and one in Spain.
So far, no cases have been confirmed in the United States.
Nov 30, 8:46 am
‘The virus is not tired of us,’ NIH director warns
Dr. Francis Collins, the director of the National Institutes of Health, is urging Americans to be vigilant in the wake of a new variant of the novel coronavirus that is sweeping the globe.
The World Health Organization has designated omicron as a “variant of concern.” But so much remains unknown about omicron, including whether it causes severe disease and if it is more contagious than delta, which is currently the dominant variant in the United States.
“We’re collecting that information as rapidly as we can, and much credit to our colleagues in South Africa who have been totally transparent about this. We only learned about this one week ago from one of their sequencers,” Collins told ABC News’ Robin Roberts in an interview Tuesday on Good Morning America.
“So we are quickly trying to figure out in South Africa, is this in fact more contagious than other variants? It does look like it’s spreading quite quickly there,” he added. “But we don’t know how that would play out in a country like ours, where delta is already so dominant. Would omicron be able to compete with delta? We don’t know the answer to that.”
Another big question, Collins said, is whether the current COVID-19 vaccines and boosters will provide protection against omicron as they have against previous variants. The answers will “take a couple of weeks” to uncover, he said.
In the meantime, Collins encouraged all Americans to get vaccinated and boosted if eligible, and to wear face masks.
“I wear my mask if I’m indoors with other people — I don’t always know if they’re all vaccinated or not. That’s just good practice,” he said. “I know we’re all tired of this, but the virus is not tired of us and it’s continuing to exploit those opportunities where we’re careless.”
Nov 30, 7:22 am
Omicron variant was in the Netherlands earlier than thought
Dutch health authorities announced Tuesday that they have detected omicron in two previously tested samples, dating back as much as 11 days, indicating that the new variant was already circulating in western Europe before it was first identified in southern Africa.
The Netherlands’ National Institute for Public Health and the Environment said it discovered omicron in samples dated Nov. 19 and Nov. 23, preceding the cases found among people traveling from South Africa to the Amsterdam Airport Schiphol on Nov. 26.
“It is not yet clear whether these people had also visited southern Africa,” the institute said in a statement Tuesday.
Out of 624 passengers returning from South Africa who were tested for COVID-19 at the Amsterdam Airport Schiphol on Nov. 26, 61 tested positive, including 14 with the omicron variant.
“Laboratory tests identified several different strains of the omicron variant,” the institute said. “This means that the people were very probably infected independently from each other, from different sources and in different locations.”
The omicron variant was first reported to World Health Organization from South Africa on Nov. 24.
(WASHINGTON) — First lady Jill Biden unveiled the White House holiday decorations on Monday and announced her theme for the 2021 season as “Gifts from the Heart,” intended to honor those who have preserved through hardships brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The things we hold sacred unite us and transcend distance, time, and even the constraints of a pandemic: faith, family, and friendship; a love of the arts, learning, and nature; gratitude, service, and community; unity and peace. These are the gifts that tie together the heart strings of our lives. These are the Gifts from the Heart,” the Bidens wrote in a letter explaining the theme for a commemorative White House Holiday Guide.
“As we celebrate our first holiday season in the White House, we are inspired by the Americans we have met across the country, time and again reminding us that our differences are precious and our similarities infinite,” the first lady and president said. “We wish you a happy, healthy, and joyous holiday season. As we look to a new year full of possibility, may gifts from the heart light our path forward.”
It took approximately 25 wreaths, 41 Christmas trees, 300 candles, 6,000 feet of ribbon, 10,000 ornaments and nearly 80,000-holiday lights to spruce up the White House for the holiday season. More than 100 volunteers worked on the decorations, according to the office of the first lady. While volunteers in the past have come from around the country, they were limited to surrounding areas this year due to the COVID-19 concerns.
Officials said the theme is represented in every room “with sort of an element of another theme, a sub-theme, if you will.”
Inside the Blue Room, which represents the “Gift of Peace and Unity,” stands the official White House Christmas tree. The room’s iconic chandelier was temporarily removed to display the 18.5-foot Fraser fir from Jefferson, North Carolina, which the first lady welcomed last week.
“Cascading down the tree, peace doves carry a shimmering banner embossed with the names of each state and territory of the United States, reminding us all of the importance of unity and national harmony,” the White House said.
Photos of the Trumps, Obamas, both Bushes, Reagans and Carters also hang on the tree, in addition to pictures of the Bidens, their kids, grandkids and dogs, Champ and Major.
Inside the State Dining Room, Christmas stockings hang above the fireplace mantel for each of the Biden grandchildren, marked with their names.
The Gingerbread White House, which the White House said was “inspired by our gratitude and admiration for our Nation’s frontline workers who kept our country running through the global pandemic, often at great risk to themselves and their families,” honors nurses, doctors, postal and grocery store workers, to name a few, and is complete with a gingerbread school teacher, illustrative of the first lady who is a longtime community college professor, smiling and standing next to a gingerbread schoolhouse.
Also on display is the Bidens’ Christmas card, signed “Joe” and “Jill,” which includes a remembrance for those who lost their lives this year to COVID-19.
A drawing of a candle on the back of the card includes the words, “In remembrance of all Americans who lost their lives to COVID-19 and in recognition of essential and frontline workers, first responders, and our service members and their families.”
As she did when she welcomed the White House Christmas tree last week, the first lady was joined again Monday afternoon by the National Guard family — the Harrells — to honor those spending the holiday season apart.
To that end, a Gold Star Tree honoring service members who have died in the line of duty, as well as their families who carry on their legacies, is on display at the East landing.
The first lady hosted a second-grade class from an elementary school in Maryland to help her unveil the decorations on Monday.
The kids sported masks and wrist bands to indicate they have been COVID-19 tested, and the first lady read her 2012 children’s book, “Don’t Forget, God Bless our Troops.” PBS Kids held a holiday puppet show to mark the festive occasion, and the children appeared starstruck at a performance by the Kraft Brothers.
She also thanked volunteers who decorated the home for the holidays in brief remarks.
“When the pandemic keeps us apart — like I know how tough this year has been really struggling to get by — or we feel like the weight of our lives is just too heavy to carry, these constants remind us that they feel us and lift our eyes to the future,” she said of the theme.
“For all of our differences, we are united by what really matters like points on a star we come together at the heart. That is what I wanted to reflect in our White House this year,” Biden added, blowing a kiss to the volunteers.
Earlier, inside the East Wing, the president’s own U.S. Marine Corps band played an assortment of holiday tunes amid an assortment of large, red packages.
The planning for holiday decorations started in late May, and the first lady was “very involved” in the process, according to her communications director Elizabeth Alexander.
Social secretary Carlos Elizondo said the White House didn’t have too many problems with the supply chain, “but there were some items that were backed up,” like some of the topiaries, he said.
With public tours on pause due to the pandemic, the White House said to stay tuned for interactive ways to view the decorations on social media and other platforms.
(NEW YORK) — As the COVID-19 pandemic has swept the globe, more than 5.2 million people have died from the disease worldwide, including over 776,000 Americans, according to real-time data compiled by Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering.
Just 59.1% of the population in the United States is fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Nov 29, 4:15 pm
CDC strengthens booster recommendations
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday strengthened its recommendation on booster doses for adults.
The previous recommendation was that all adults 50 and older should get a booster, and those 18 to 49 may want to get boosters. Now, the CDC says all adults should get a booster shot six months after their Pfizer or Moderna vaccines or two months after the Johnson & Johnson shot.
CDC director Rochelle Walensky said, “I strongly encourage the 47 million adults who are not yet vaccinated to get vaccinated as soon as possible and to vaccinate the children and teens in their families as well because strong immunity will likely prevent serious illness.”
A 51-year-old man in Spain who traveled from South Africa on Nov. 28 has become Spain’s first confirmed case of the omicron variant, according to the health ministry.
The man has mild symptoms and is under quarantine.
Sweden has identified its first omicron case, also a person who recently visited southern Africa, the Swedish Public Health Authority said.
A vaccinated 60-year-old woman has become the first confirmed omicron case in the Czech Republic, officials said. She visited Namibia in southwest Africa via South Africa and the United Arab Emirates. Eight people who traveled with the infected woman were contact traced and are now quarantined, officials said.
These countries also have confirmed omicron cases: Canada (2); the United Kingdom (11); Italy (1); Belgium (1); the Netherlands (13); Germany (3); Denmark (2); Portugal (13); Israel (1); Australia (5); Hong Kong (3); Botswana (19); and South Africa (exact number not clear).
Nov 29, 1:40 pm
Minnesota, Michigan, Wisconsin leading nation in case rate
Experts say the steady surge of infections is expected to only intensify in the weeks to come, after millions of Americans traveled and gathered over the Thanksgiving holiday.
Nationally, hospitalization numbers have ticked up to about 53,000, according to federal data. After nearly 10 weeks of steady declines, this marks the third consecutive week that the U.S. has seen an increase in hospitalizations.
Older populations are bearing the brunt of this latest surge, with Americans 65 and older accounting for more than 41% of current hospitalizations.
Minnesota and Michigan currently hold the nation’s highest case rate, followed by Wisconsin, North Dakota, New Hampshire, Arizona, New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio, according to federal data.
-ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos
Nov 29, 12:56 pm
Dr. Ashton: Omicron ‘absolutely’ in US
ABC News’ chief medical correspondent Dr. Jennifer Ashton said Monday that she “absolutely” believes omicron is already circulating in the U.S.
“When you hear the virus has been detected in so many countries, it should come as no surprise it’s here,” she said. “Viruses mutate for a living. As long as there are unvaccinated people in the world — in South Africa, 6% vaccination rate — this should not be a surprise.”
Ashton said it will be critical for the U.S. to ramp up its genetic sequencing to effectively monitor the spread of new variants, including omicron.
Ashton, however, stressed that the U.S. in a much better place than one year ago.
“We’re better at testing, we’re better at surveillance, we’re better at treating and we’re better at preventing,” Ashton said.
-ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos
Nov 29, 12:18 pm
Biden says omicron is ’cause for concern, not a cause for panic’
President Joe Biden stressed Monday that the omicron variant is a “cause for concern, not a cause for panic.”
“We’ll fight this variant with scientific and knowledgeable actions and speed — not chaos and confusion,” Biden said. “We have more tools today to fight the variant than we ever had before, from vaccines to boosters to vaccines for children.”
If updated vaccines are needed to fight omicron, “we will accelerate their development and deployment with every available tool,” Biden said.
“I want to reiterate Dr. [Anthony] Fauci believes that the current vaccines provide at least some protection” against omicron, “and the booster strengthens that protection significantly,” Biden said.
“We do not yet believe that additional measures will be needed,” Biden said, but his administration is working with Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson to develop plans in case.
Biden again emphasized that the best protection is getting vaccinated and urged any adults who were fully vaccinated before June 1 to go get a booster immediately. He also asked Americans to wear masks indoors.
Nov 29, 12:00 pm
New York City reinstates mask advisory ‘at all times’ indoors
New York City officials reinstated a mask advisory on Monday, “strongly recommending” all residents, regardless of vaccination status, wear masks inside public settings.
Public settings include grocery stores, building lobbies and offices, said Dr. Dave Chokshi, commissioner of the city’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.
“Masks are still required for everyone in public transit, health care settings, schools and congregate settings,” he added.
The omicron variant will likely be detected in New York City in the coming days, Chokshi said.
Health officials are “very, very carefully” monitoring the variant, said Mayor Bill de Blasio.
-ABC News’ Aaron Katersky, Brian Hartman, Arielle Mitropoulos
Nov 29, 11:33 am
Biden delays enforcement of federal worker vaccine mandate until after holidays
The White House’s Office of Management and Budget is telling federal agencies they can hold off on suspending or firing federal workers for not complying with the vaccine mandate until after the holidays, according to a memo obtained by ABC News.
This change, which has not yet been publicly announced, comes as President Joe Biden is putting pressure on private employers to embrace their own vaccine mandates.
Ninety-two percent of federal workers have already had at least one vaccine dose, according to the Office of Management and Budget. The federal workforce’s compliance rate stands at 96.5%, meaning employees have had at least one vaccine dose or have a pending or approved exception or extension request.
-ABC News’ Anne Flaherty
Nov 29, 10:17 am
Omicron completely evading vaccines is ‘extremely unlikely’: Dr. Ashish Jha
Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of Brown University School of Public Health, told TODAY he assumes omicron is already in the U.S. and predicts it’ll be identified in the next few days.
But Jha said he believes it’s “extremely unlikely” that omicron would completely evade vaccines.
“I think that our vaccines will hold up — the question is … is it a little bit less effective? A lot less effective? We will have that data — both laboratory data and clinical data — in the next week or two at the most,” he said.
“I wouldn’t make any major changes to plans” for the holidays yet, he continued. “I would just wait and make sure you’re vaccinated and everybody around you is vaccinated.”
“If you’re fully vaccinated — and especially if you’re boosted — you’re going to have more protection against this variant,” Jha said.
-ABC News’ Cheyenne Haslett
Nov 29, 9:42 am
Portugal finds 13 cases of omicron variant among Lisbon soccer club
Portuguese health authorities on Monday confirmed 13 cases of the omicron variant among professional soccer players.
The Ricardo Jorge National Health Institute said the players who tested positive are all members of the Lisbon-based Belenenses SAD soccer club and that one of them had recently traveled to southern Africa, where the omicron variant was first identified last week.
The institute is investigating whether this is one of the first reported instances of local transmission of the new coronavirus variant outside of southern Africa, where most of the cases have been recorded so far.
All 13 players have been placed in quarantine and those who have been in contact with them were ordered to isolate, regardless of their vaccination status or their exposure to possible contagion. The players and their close contacts will be regularly tested for COVID-19, the institute said.
-ABC News’ Aicha El Hammar Castano
Nov 29, 9:05 am
Moderna’s chief medical officer talks omicron variant
Moderna’s chief medical officer, Dr. Paul Burton, said the omicron variant probably emerged around mid-October in southern Africa.
“How transmissible is it? We think it’s probably quite transmissible. But how severe is the disease it causes? We don’t know the answer to that question yet,” Burton told ABC News’ Amy Robach in an interview Monday on Good Morning America.
“While we think that vaccine effectiveness may come down based on the mutations seen in this virus … we should be able to get antibodies up” with the booster shot, Burton said.
“We’ll know from tests in the next couple of weeks how effective the vaccines are against this variant,” he added.
Nov 29, 8:15 am
Omicron variant will ‘spread widely,’ Fauci warns
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the U.S. government’s top infectious diseases expert, is urging Americans who have been vaccinated against COVID-19 and are eligible to get a booster shot to do so now, in anticipation of the omicron variant spreading “widely.”
So far, there are no known confirmed cases of the new variant in the United States, according to Fauci, who is the chief medical adviser to U.S. President Joe Biden.
“But obviously, we’re on high alert,” Fauci told ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos in an interview Monday on Good Morning America.
“It’s inevitable that, sooner or later, it’s going to spread widely because it has at least the molecular characteristics of being highly transmissible,” he added, “even though there are a lot of things about it that we do not know but will be able to ascertain in the next week or two.”
Fauci, who is also the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said omicron clearly has a “transmissibility advantage,” based on what scientists have seen in southern Africa, where the variant was first identified last week.
“But the extent of that, again, still needs to be worked out,” he noted. “We’ll know soon.”
Fauci said the severity of illness that the omicron variant can inflict remains unclear, despite early reports that some patients had mild symptoms.
Although there is still so much unknown about the new variant, Fauci said it’s clear that vaccinated individuals, particularly those who have received booster doses, fare better against COVID-19 than their unvaccinated counterparts.
“So we don’t know exactly what’s going on with this new variant,” he said, “but I would assume — and I think it’s a reasonable assumption — that when you get vaccinated and boosted and your [antibody] level goes way up, you’re going to have some degree of protection, at least against severe disease.”
Both Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna booster shots have been authorized for all adults in the United States. Anyone over the age of 18 can get a booster dose at least six months after they received their second dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccines, or at least two months after they got their single dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
“I would strongly suggest you get boosted now and not wait for the next iteration of [the vaccine], which we may not even need,” Fauci said. “The pharmaceutical companies are preparing to make a specific booster for [omicron], but we may not need that.”
Nov 29, 4:44 am
WHO says overall global risk of omicron variant is ‘very high’
The World Health Organization has assessed the overall global risk related to a newly discovered variant of the novel coronavirus as “very high.”
In a technical brief published Sunday, the WHO explained that omicron, or B.1.1.529, “is a highly divergent variant with a high number of mutations,” some of which it said “are concerning and may be associated with immune escape potential and higher transmissibility.”
“Given mutations that may confer immune escape potential and possibly transmissibility advantage, the likelihood of potential further spread of Omicron at the global level is high,” the WHO concluded in a risk assessment. “Depending on these characteristics, there could be future surges of COVID-19, which could have severe consequences, depending on a number of factors including where surges may take place.”
The variant was first identified in southern Africa last week and has quickly spread to several countries across the globe, sparking new travel restrictions and shaking financial markets. On Friday, the WHO officially named the variant omicron and designated it as a “variant of concern.” Both the WHO and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say that variants of concern have shown to spread more easily than others and cause more severe disease.
While omicron has not yet been detected in the United States, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government’s top infectious diseases expert, told ABC News on Sunday that the variant will “inevitably” arrive.
“The question is,” he added, “will we be prepared for it?”
(NEW YORK) — Officials in New York City have reinstated the city’s mask advisory while indoors as the omicron variant continues to spread around the globe.
City health officials are “strongly recommending” that all residents wear masks inside public settings such as grocery stores, building lobbies and offices, regardless of vaccination status.
“This includes those who are vaccinated and those who have had COVID-19,” Dr. Dave Chokshi, commissioner of the city’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, told reporters at a news conference Monday. “Higher quality masks can offer additional protection, and masks are still required for everyone in public transit, health care settings, schools and congregate settings.”
While the new variant has not been detected yet in New York City, there will likely be a positive case confirmed within days “based on what we know about its global spread,” Chokshi said.
The World Health Organization warned in a report Sunday that omicron poses a high likelihood of further transmission with a “very high” global risk.
New Yorkers who traveled or gathered in groups over the Thanksgiving holiday are also encouraged to get tested, officials said.
About 88% of adults and 81% of kids ages 12 to 17 in New York City have received at least one dose of the vaccine, ABC New York station WABC reported. The average daily number of infections is 905, and that number is increasing, according to city health data.
Health officials are “very, very carefully” monitoring the variant, Mayor Bill de Blasio told reporters Monday. Nearly 5,400 people in the state are testing positive daily, on average, marking the highest number of new positive daily cases since February, according to the station.
President Joe Biden addressed the nation Monday, saying that while omicron is a “cause for concern,” there is no need to panic. Omicron will come to the U.S. “sooner or later,” Biden said.
Biden urged Americans to get vaccinated, including those who are now eligible for the booster, and to continue to wear masks indoors.
“We’ll fight this variant with scientific and knowledgeable actions and speed — not chaos and confusion,” Biden said. “We have more tools today to fight the variant than we ever had before, from vaccines to boosters to vaccines for children.”
Once omicron gets to the U.S., it will likely “spread widely,” Dr. Anthony Fauci, the U.S. government’s top infectious diseases expert, told ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos in an interview Monday on “Good Morning America.”
“It’s inevitable that, sooner or later, it’s going to spread widely because it has at least the molecular characteristics of being highly transmissible,” Fauci said.
ABC News’ Aaron Katersky, Brian Hartman and Arielle Mitropoulos contributed to this report.
