a rare solo update. it is by phone. the timing may be critical for her. her agency is facing intense criticism for messy messages. crippling test shortages and changing and confusing guidance. the new york times said dr. walensky and her teams making sound decisions but fumbling in communicating them to america. critics say the cdc s recommendations are sometimes so confusing they are more like drafts than proclamations. this is going on. some of president biden s former advisors are suggesting he pivot away from two years of promises like these. president biden: i m going to shut down the virus. i will shut down the virus. i won t shut down the country but i will shut down the virus. i will shut down the virus. i m going to shut down the
epidemic for your political gain. and as if to confirm that accusation, senator paul s office fired off a fund-raising email soon after the exchange with the subject header, fauci is hysterical. now, look there are many legitimate areas where dr. fauci can and should be grilled by u.s. senators. among these are the test shortages that have compounded omicron confusion, why the u.s. government didn t seem better prepared to confront this variant, and investigations into the origin of the virus, including possible lab leaks from the wuhan institute of virology. maybe we still can be tough and civil at the same time. you think an actual medical doctor on the committee might be able to shed some light rather than just heat on those proceedings. but kansas senator roger marshall who voted to overturn the election after the attack on the capitol, again showed his
being affected, many states are reporting near-record highs. maryland hospital officials are calling for a limited emergency declaration. in new york city, the fire department has so many out sick, they are reminding people to call 911 only in true emergencies. and everywhere, the drum beat for more testing is growing louder, especially with schools reopening next week. testing, testing, testing, testing, all the time. so this is what i think we have to do, and you re seeing this in new york. you re seeing this in d.c. you re seeing this in as many places as we can. reporter: test shortages have the federal government scrambling to sign a new contract next week for a half billion free tests, which will start going out to the public in january. in the meantime, two new reports indicate a booster shot of the johnson & johnson vaccine significantly lowers the risk of severe illness from the omicron variant, and health officialed are pleading no matter which vaccine you choose, get you
if you are unvaccinated, you are ten times more likely to be a case and 20 times more likely to be a fatality. we re still getting data but what we re hearing from hospitals really across the nation, and this is very consistent, is that the vast majority of the children who are being admitted are unvaccinated. reporter: so many people are affected many states are reporting near record highs. maryland hospital officials are calling for a limited emergency declaration. in new york city the fire department has so many out sick they are reminding people to call 911 only in true emergencies. everywhere the drum beat for more testing is growing louder especially with schools reopening next week. testing, testing, testing all the time. so this is what i think we have to do. you re seeing this in new york, in d.c., in as many places as we can. reporter: test shortages have the federal government scrambling to sign a new