see whether these dozens of mutations on the new variant will actually make it more vulnerable to less able for the vaccine to be able to respond to it, whether it will make it more dangerous in terms of hospitalizations and deaths, as well as the transmissibility. we also know pharmaceutical companies in the u.s. are already looking at what it would take to update the vaccine to be able to be more responsive to this new variant, but it s worth pointing out several of these countries that in the last 24 hours have detected cases such as the uk are ones that don t have travel restrictions, that are not part of that new ban on people coming into the u.s., which just goes to show just how difficult it is to try to actually contain something like this once it s out there spreading in the community, alex. yeah, we will see if some travel bans emerge as a result of omicron. that s for sure. thank you very much, josh lederman there in nantucket with the president. let s go from there no
reporter: of course, today is also small business saturday and as you venture out to spend in your neighborhood or spend online with a small business, you want to remember this. according to american express, 78% of small business owners say that this holiday season is going to determine whether or not they can keep their doors open into 2022, so be sure and spend thoughtfully e. very good advice. thank you so much. president biden s taking action to battle high gas prices that few presidents ever have but when will americans see a drop at the pumps? it seems donald trump just cannot resist talk about running in 24. the reason may be all in the numbers. 24 the reason may be all in the numbers. knows how to handle dry weather. .and dry, cracked skin. new gold bond advanced healing ointment. restore healthy skin, with no sticky feeling. gold bond. champion your skin. it s the most joyous time of year. especially at t-mobile! with no sticky feeling. let s go to dianne. i got the
we were talking about earlier. there are other parts around the world that are still struggling to get vaccinated, that are still struggling from covid, and so that affects the global supply chain. the final point that i would make on this is, we had such depressed gas prices for the last year and year and a half, now that we have had this surge in demand, we have obviously seen it at the pump, but i do believe that most projections show that is temporary, and they will come down in several months. and here s perhaps why, and to your point, gas prices are about 50% higher than this time last year and that s a lot for over one year, but the president says he s releasing some 50 million barrels from the strategic oil reserve, and that s supposed to be used in emergencies. does this qualify for an emergency in your mind? are you comfortable with the president doing this, and how much of it do you think is political? well, the president is taking decisive action. i m glad that he s not
couple weeks ago when the president signed into law the infrastructure bill. the infrastructure investment and jobs act on monday. and then at the end of the week, on friday, we in the house of representatives passed the build back better act. it is now in the senate. i think it will take a couple weeks there. we do have some hurdles, but i do think we will get this done. about 90% of the bill has already been preconferenced, which is a maybe slightly fancy way of saying we ve already reached agreement with the relevant parties on most of that. in terms of what might come out, i mean, i m one of the house democrats that s been fighting to keep paid sick leave and paid family leave in the legislation. i m hoping that we ll ultimately prevail on that. but let s not lose sight of all the things that are in this piece of legislation from universal pre-k to the tax cut for families with children to the negotiation of prescription
sitting back, that he is leading. i think it is the appropriate measure. i would also point out that in the infrastructure bill that we just passed, and the president signed about two weeks ago, there is money in there that will help with respect to our supply chains. finally, we do know that the quicker that we accelerate the transition to renewables, the better off that we will all be, not just at the pump but also in terms of our foreign policy. that s why passing the build back better act this month is so crucial. there s $555 billion in there to help accelerate the transition to renewables. that s not only best for our wallets and our pocketbooks, that s also what s best for our fight against climate change. which brings me to my next question. do you think build back better will pass? and what might have to be taken out in order to do so? yeah, i do, alex. what an historic week we had a