Kamala Harris on Friday appeared to blame scientists for the United States’ failure to be better prepared for Omicron – insisting that the virologists ‘upon whose advice and direction we have relied’ were blind to the next wave.
Harris, in an interview with The Los Angeles Times, said that the Biden administration ‘didn’t see’ Delta and Omicron coming.
She spoke as the Omicron variant has been spreading nationwide, with 39 states now having detected cases as of late Friday, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Cases are up 31 percent nationwide over the past two weeks, with 124,413 people testing positive for the virus. Deaths have increased by 28 percent over the past two weeks as well, with 1,288 people dying every day.
The Omicron variant, which was first discovered last month in South Africa, is taking hold in the U.S., as well. The CDC reported that three percent of new cases in the U.S. are of the variant, and the confirmed case total has reached 421 as of Friday morning – a 31 percent increase from Thursday.
While not many cases have yet been confirmed, it is speculated that this new variant is responsible for much of the recent increase in cases nationwide.
New York City has been particularly hard-hit, again, with the number of cases doubling in three days and with the new strain accounting for around 13 percent of cases in the state. On Friday, New York logged a record 21,027 new cases. New York City is struggling as well, with reports of hours long waits for Covid tests coming out from all five of its boroughs. Broadway theaters are closing their doors, and restaurants and bars are shuttering, due to COVID outbreaks among staff.
Highly vaccinated states in the Northeast seem to be struggling the most at the moment, as cold weather, waning immunity and the new variant all contribute to a new case surge.
Questions have been asked as to why the U.S. was not swifter to react, when the Omicron variant was noted first in South Africa, and then caused havoc in the U.K.
‘We didn’t see Delta coming,’ Harris told the paper.
‘I think most scientists did not – upon whose advice and direction we have relied – didn’t see Delta coming.’
Kamala Harris is seen on Friday speaking to The Los Angeles Times in her Washington DC office
Harris is seen on December 14 listening as Biden speaks at a DNC holiday party
‘We didn’t see Omicron coming. And that’s the nature of what this, this awful virus has been, which as it turns out, has mutations and variants.’
The mutations and variants have been long known as a feature of coronaviruses.
By the time Harris and Biden took over, in January 2021, the World Health Organization had already identified three ‘variants of concern’ – Alpha, Beta and Gamma.
Two more – Delta and Omicron – emerged in the Biden-Harris era.
Biden on July 4 celebrated ‘independence’ from the virus, in a positive speech which some have now said was misguided.
‘While the virus hasn’t been vanquished, we know this: It no longer controls our lives,’ the president said.
‘It no longer paralyzes our nation. And it’s within our power to make sure it never does again.’
But Harris denied that the administration declared victory prematurely.
‘We have not been victorious over it,’ she said.
‘I don’t think that in any regard anyone can claim victory when, you know, there are 800,000 people who are dead because of this virus.’
Harris denied that the administration had been complacent about the end of the pandemic
Harris said one of her biggest regrets is that she had not been able to do more to combat myths about the virus and vaccine.
‘I would take that more seriously,’ she said of the misinformation.
‘The biggest threat still to the American people is the threat to the unvaccinated.
‘And most people who believe in the efficacy of the vaccine and the seriousness of the virus have been vaccinated. That troubles me deeply.’
Harris told the paper she understood the frustration many felt at still being faced with a surge in COVID, despite there now being a vaccine and booster available.
She said she appreciated that many were angry at having to cancel Christmas plans once again, and was well aware of the toll that uncertainty and anxiety took on mental health.
‘I get it. I get it. I totally get it,’ she said.
‘I mean, you know, one of the concerns that I have is the undiagnosed and untreated trauma at various degrees that everyone has experienced.’
The vice president was highly tipped to be the Democrat nominee in 2024 before she took office, and failed to impress.
Less than half of Americans approve of the job she is doing.
A new Hill/HarrisX poll released on Tuesday shows 43 per cent of registered voters approve of Harris’s performance, while 50 per cent say they disapprove.
The same poll taken December 6-7 shows 7 per cent of respondents are unsure of their approval of the vice president.
Harris would not say whether she felt that her gender and race were a factor in her low approval ratings.
‘I’ll leave that to other people to evaluate,’ she said.
A new poll released Tuesday shows only 43 per cent of registered voters approve of the job Kamala Harris is doing as vice president
And asked about the exodus of her staff, Harris said she would rather ‘talk about how they’ve been mentored and nurtured and supported’ by her.
Harris’s defensiveness about the administration’s response to COVID came as Biden himself warned of a ‘winter of severe illness and death’ for the unvaccinated.
On Friday, the 42nd state – Kansas – was confirmed to have identified Omicron cases.
New York has become an epicenter for the new variant, with the new strain accounting for around 13 percent of cases in the state.
On Friday, New York logged a record 21,027 new cases.
New York City is struggling as well, with reports of five-hour waits for COVID tests.
The rise in cases in the past three days caused Dr Jay Varma, Mayor Bill de Blasio’s top medical advisor, to tweet ‘we’ve never seen this before in New York City.’
Varma noted how the city’s daily positivity rate doubled from 3.9 percent to 7.8 percent between December 9 and December 12.
The city’s current seven-day average is 5.19 per cent, according to city data.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that three percent of new cases in the U.S. are of the variant, and the confirmed case total has reached 421 as of Friday morning – a 31 percent increase from Thursday.
While not many cases have yet been confirmed, it is speculated that this new variant is responsible for much of the recent increase in cases nationwide.
Highly-vaccinated states in the northeast seem to be struggling the most at the moment, as cold weather, waning immunity and the new variant all contribute to a new case surge.
Rhode Island currently has the highest Covid rate in America, with 99 out of every 100,000 residents testing positive for the virus every day – up 63 percent over the past two weeks.
It is also the second-most vaccinated state in America with 75 percent residents fully jabbed.
The most vaccinated state in America is Vermont, where 76 percent of residents are fully immunized.
The state is experiencing a surge of its own, with 69 out of every 100,000 residents being infected.
Thanks to the vaccine, however, deaths in all three states have remained low despite recent case surges.
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.
In Washington D.C., the case rate per 100,000 remains much lower than many other states, at 39, but the figure is rapidly rising.
The city has experienced a 230 percent increase in cases over the past two weeks.
Like New York, it is a densely populated city that also struggled when the virus initially broke out in spring 2020.
Cases have also doubled, and then some, in Hawaii over the past two weeks.
The islands have suffered a 140 percent increase in new cases over the past two weeks.
While cases seem to be rising on the east coast – and Hawaii – the Midwest and the Great Plains states are suffering a wave of deaths.
Michigan leads the nation in deaths at the moment, with 1.16 out of every 100,000 residents dying from COVID every day.
Hospitals in the state are being swarmed by new cases, and officials fear that situation will only get worse.
Indiana is also among the nationwide leaders in Covid deaths, averaging 0.8 deaths per 100,000 residents every day.
Also in the Midwest, Ohio (0.71 deaths per 100,000 each day), Wisconsin (0.69) and Minnesota (0.62) are dealing with recent case surges.
Montana finds itself right behind Michigan in death rate at the moment, and is suffering the most of states in the northwestern plains.
The state is averaging 1.15 deaths per every 100,000 residents every day, and especially worrying total for a place with a small, spread out, population.
Wyoming is dealing with a surge of its own, with 0.74 of every 100,000 residents dying from Covid each day.
In North Dakota, its 0.62, and 0.61 in South Dakota. Colorado is recording 0.69 deaths per every 100,000 residents every day.
Cases are decreasing in these states, though, down 49 percent in Montana, 34 percent in Wyoming, 19 percent in North Dakota and 19 percent in South Dakota as well, signaling they may be past the worst of the recent surge.
Other states like Pennsylvania (0.92 deaths per 100,000 every day), Arizona (0.96), West Virginia (0.84) and Colorado (0.69) are also among the nation’s leaders in Covid deaths.
In the south, cases are also rising across many states. Florida is currently posting a 127 percent increase in cases over the past two weeks, though that figure is unreliable as the state does not regularly report cases.
Alabama (70 percent increase in cases over the past two weeks), Georgia (60 percent), Texas (89 percent) and Virginia (62 percent) are all experiencing sharp case increases, leading the region.
Cases are declining for states on the west coast, though, with California posting an 11 percent decrease in cases, Alaska down 35 percent, Washington down four percent and Oregon down three percent.