Headline RoundupNovember 29th, 2021

Biden Calls Omicron Variant a ‘Cause for Concern,’ not ‘Panic’

Summary from the AllSides News Team

President Joe Biden said Monday that the newly-discovered omicron COVID-19 variant was “a cause for concern, not a cause for panic.” 

Biden also said his strategy to combat the new variant would focus on vaccines, not new lockdowns and travel restrictions. The same day, the World Health Organization said omicron posed a “very high” global risk due to “considerable uncertainties” about the variant. The CDC also strengthened its vaccine booster shot recommendations, urging all adults to get a booster two months after a Johnson & Johnson dose or six months after a second Pfizer or Moderna dose. 

Outlets across the spectrum varied on highlighting Biden’s statement, the WHO’s statement or the CDC’s booster recommendation. Coverage was mostly balanced across the spectrum. In one case, a Fox News (Right) homepage headline implied Biden was copying former President Donald Trump’s anti-lockdown stance from before the release of COVID-19 vaccines. 

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