but vaccinating the world is just one more tool in how we need to meet our moral obligation as americans and how to best protect americans as well. the delta variants and now the omicron variant all emerged elsewhere in the world, so we can t let up until the world is vaccinated. we re protecting americans by doing that as well. as we continue this effort, let s remember where we stand. we re in a very different place as we enter the month of december, this month compared to where we were last september, last christmas. last christmas fewer than 1% of american adults were vaccinated. this christmas the number will be over 71% including more than 86% of seniors. last christmas our children were at risk without a vaccine. this christmas we have safe and effective vaccines for children ages 5 and older with more than
big picture, the global impact, the 60 million or so americans who are still unvaccinated. for those of us who have been following the science and following the recommendation, i think that we all can still feel reasonably in control of this, which, you know, might sound a little bit, you know, sort of in contrast to the messaging about the variant, but listen, people really do need to understand that vaccination plus boosting really does in all likelihood confer a significant amount of protection still, chris. remember what happens when you get a booster or a vaccine. you get a significant rise in neutralizing antibodies, which protects you from infection. but you still have also have in parallel, you have that other arm of the immune system, the t cells, the b cells. they are lying there dormant,
team. any developments as it relates to how severe it is and how quiw dangerous it is, et cetera. we work to do in that area. wall street journal ? thank you, mr. president. the u.k., europe, and a growing number of countries have confirmed cases of it omicron. are you considering additional travel restrictions on places where the variant has been detected? separately, even urged americans to wear masks in public places but many places have lifted mandates. are you calling on state and local officials to reinstatements mandates? president biden: with the guard to the last question, the answer is i encourage everyone n there any doors in crowded circumstances like we are now unless you are eating or speaking at a microphone.
economic growth in this country. we ve moved forward in the face of covid-19. we have moved forward in the face of the delta variant, and we will move forward now in the face of the omicron variant. thank you. may god bless our troops, and i hope you all have i ll be speaking before then but a merry christmas as we approach it. questions. should americans be worried, sir? let me call on nancy of bloomberg. thank you, so much, president biden. do you think that other countries will be reluctant to report variants or other strains given the travel ban that you put so quickly on south africa? no, i i i don t think so. i don t think that s what s going happen and i want to again, the reap for the immediate travel ban is there were a significant number of cases unlike any other country the few around south africa in the world. we needed time to give people an opportunity to say get that
american. our people are protected first. vaccinating the world is just one more tool and how many to meet our moral obligation as americans and how to best protect americans as well. the delta variant and now omicron variant all emerged elsewhere in the world. we cannot let up until the world is vaccinated. we are protecting americans by doing that. as we continue this effort, let s remember where we stand. we are in a very different place as we enter the month of december of this month, compared to where we were last christmas. last christmas fewer than 1% of american adults were vaccinated. this christmas, the number will be over 71% including more than 86% of seniors. last christmas, our children were at risk without a vaccine. we have a safe and effective