'The window is closing.' White House warns U.S. faces new COVID-19 risk without more shots
'The Window is Closing': White House Warns U.S. Faces New COVID-19 Risk Without More Shots
His warning came as the White House said there could be up to 100 million infections from the virus later this year—and as President Joe Biden somberly ordered flags to half-staff to mark 1 million deaths. Speaking of a need to provide vaccination assistance to other nations, Jha cast the urgency in terms of the benefits to Americans, even if they never travel overseas.“All of these variants were first identified outside of the United States,” he said. “If the goal is to protect the American people, we have got to make sure the world is vaccinated. I mean, there’s just no domestic-only approach here.
White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha speaks during the daily briefing at the White House in Washington, April 26, 2022.Jha said he’s been making the case to lawmakers for additional funding for weeks, calling it a “very pared down request” and “the bare minimum that we need to get through this fall and winter without large loss of life.”
“I would say we’re really kind of at that deadline and waiting much longer just puts us further back of the line,” he added. “If we’re willing to be in the back of the line and get our vaccines in the spring, we have plenty of time. But then we’ll have missed the entire fall and winter. That’s not an acceptable outcome, I think, for the American people.