people, we ve got to wake up and understand that there are big things going on here and they re sometimes using this as subtrefuge to get other ideologies that want to come across. this is america, the land of the free. it s about the people, not the government. maria: i want to ask you about your thoughts about what s going on in europe right now and joe biden s new rules to shut down travel from south africa. let me take a short break and after this we ll talk about that as well as the democrats plan to use $400 million in taxpayer dollars to fund a federal vaccine database. more surveillance. is this just more cash up in smoke? we ll talk about it with dr. carson when we come right back.
programs. they re both seeking to start gathering data. they both offer passengers one of two testing options, one of which is a pooled pcr test on site, the other is a take-home test that is self-administered within three to five days of the international flight. reporter: and they re even going beyond that here at sfo. they re actually testing the waste water as they try and figure out where this variant is going. the idea is that experts say that travel bans and a lot of these measures have a limited effect and that they buy people a few days to try and figure out what s going on with this, and to make the most of that, testing is key, and lindsey, the thinking is that it s still going to be a couple weeks before we know exactly what s going on with this omicron variant and how much of a threat or how little of a threat that it may be. fascinating pilot program, though, and the fact that they re testing waste water. nbc s scott cohn, thank you. and the u.s. joined nations acro
about what should we be doing to help protect ourselves. travel bans are probably more political theater than are going to be useful. we believe these to be helpful we should have started on friday and shutting down travel from everywhere. that s not what we did. i don t think they re going to be effective and adpree with dr. anthony fauci it s likely that omicron is already here. we have to embrace those things that we know work. but at the same time, we have to say, why are we here and are these mutations, these variant, inevitable? the reason we re here we haven t done enough to vaccinate the globe. we ve been very self-congratulatory in the u.s. about getting vaccines to other countries and donated millions of vaccines. many of those vaccines haven t arrived and actually gotten into the arms that need them and donating vaccines is inadequate. we need to be pushing manufactures to share the technology for these vaccines and sharing our logistical support with other places, we have t
that s the minimum everyone should be doing. we ve always talked about i think it s a patriotic responsibility. the president made the decision to shut down travel from south africa and seven other countries out of abundance of caution after u.s. health officials about half past the variant is spreading and whether vaccines are effective against it. restrictions were announced quickly but they don t take effect until monday and some medical experts save they could lessen their benefit. white house officials that the president was brief today from nantucket where he s spending thanksgiving. he was seen on camera walking around clothing shops downtown with his mask down in a store that requires face coverings. the development surrounding the variant are taking the spotlight off of holiday sales especially department a record price despite high inflation but the president tried to call concerned about high gas prices tweeting this week we launched a
vaccinated. number 2, everyone eligible for the booster shot should get the booster shot. that is the mine male that imp should be doing. we always talk about [inaudible] jacqui: after u.s. health officials spoke to south african scientists of how fast the new variant is spreading and whether vaccines are effective against it the president made the decision to shut down travel from south africa and 7 neighboring countries we are told out of abundance and caution. the restrictions announced quickly but don t take effect until monday and medical experts say that that will considerably lessen benefit and no indication of that, he did reverse course slight i will saying that he would be surprised if it wasn t here already and just not had not yet been detected. in the meantime the center for disease control said today no