were either canceled or that we were not allowed to board. >> reporter: but today president joe biden tried to assure the american people that these are precautionary measures. >> this variant is a cause for concern, not a cause for panic. >> reporter: and he along with other top health officials continue to echo one main message. get vaccinated. >> please, folks, if you have been on the fence, i'm not a politician. i'm a scientist. maybe we can even ask all the politicians to agree on this one. get your vaccine. get your booster. it's the best chance we've got to drive this covid-19 pandemic away. >> jake, as we have been saying, there's still a lot we don't know about this new coronavirus omicron, including whether or not it evades vaccines. in fact, if it indeed does, pfizer and biontech staying is prepared to adapt its vaccines within six weeks. johnson & johnson also saying it is pursuing an omicron specific