specifically about the substance of that speech and what the administration is promising including half a billion free at home testing kits and more aid to overburdened hospitals and the guidance from the president that the vaccinated should not change their holiday plans. today, the president appeared defensive over the persistent problems in testing. he also told the tens of millions of unvaccinated americans that getting these lifesaving shots was their, quote, patriotic duty. but if there was one them he kept returning to, it was that progress has been made in the fight. we should all be concerned about omicron but not panicked. and no, this is not march of 2020. 200 million people are fully vaccinated. we re prepared. we know more. we just have to stay focused. a lot to cover tonight, including as i mentioned o you are our discussion with the cdc director but let s start with cnn s athena jones on where we are right now.
progress has been made in the fight. we should all be concerned about omicron but not panicked. and, no, this is not march of 2020. 200 million people are fully vaccinated. we re prepared. we know more. we just have to stay focused. a lot to cover including as i mentioned our discussion with the cdc director. let s start with cnn s athena jones on where we are right now. we ve really not seen anything like this before. hospitalizations are up 35% over a month ago. the u.s. now averages nearly 140,000 new covid cases a day and more than 1200 people are dying each day on average. even as early indications suggest omicron may cause milder illness than the delta variant the sheer number of covid cases could overwhelm already stretched hospitals. one of the things we re very concerned about is in health care systems are already over
potential threat. there is a lot we don t know. the cdc amped up its advice on vaccine boosters. the old world is that anyone 18 and older may get a booster. joins us to talk boosters, possible new versions of the vaccines, and a pill the company has been testing to treat covid. first, cnn s athena jones on why this variant has become so troubling so quickly. reporter: tonight, the president calling for calm. this variant is a cause for concern, not a cause for panic. reporter: as omicron, a new coronavirus variant, first detected in south africa, spreads around the world. this is a new wrench that s been thrown into the fight against covid. it s certainly not good news. reporter: raising new, urgent questions. we don t know everything we need to know about this new variant, yet. we don t know, yet, what the level of severity will be. reporter: omicron has at least 50 mutations, including some shared with the highly
in a moment, the ceo of pfizer joins us to talk boosters, possible new versions of the vaccines, and a pill the company has been testing to treat covid. first, cnn s athena jones on why this variant has become so troubling so quickly. reporter: tonight, the president calling for calm. this variant is a cause for concern, not a cause for panic. reporter: as omicron, a new coronavirus variant, first detected in south africa, spreads around the world. this is a new wrench that s been thrown into the fight against covid. it s certainly not good news. reporter: raising new, urgent questions. we don t know everything we need to know about this new variant, yet. we don t know, yet, what the level of severity will be. reporter: omicron has at least 50 mutations, including some shared with the highly contagious delta variant. that drove a deadly-summer surge in the united states. the new variant has become the most dominant strain in south africa less than two weeks after it w
the candidates offered distinct approaches for america while wrestling with how to defeat president trump. elizabeth warren and bernie sanders were challenged by some of the moderates on their medicare for all plan and whether it is best for all. all in all, the debate was chock-full of policy, chock-full of substance and an interesting discussion, i think, on so many of the important issues. some of the candidates who were on that stage, they won t make it to the next debate. so it was really make or break for them. we will speak to south bend mayor pete buttigieg in just a few moments. so what does last night mean for tonight s face-off when we see a rematch of joe biden and senator kamala harris? will the candidates be able to keep up with the blistering pace we saw last night? let s go to the debate stage. sort of the field itself. cnn s athena jones on the 50 yard line with the highlights of the debate last night. athena? reporter: good morning, john.