Biden, home checks and calls to get vaccinated. “But don’t panic, it’s not March 2020” – Corriere.it

Five hundred million Covid tests were sent to Americans in January. A thousand military doctors and nurses have been dispatched to aid hospitals that will be hit by another Omicron-fueled tsunami in the coming weeks. Six task forces made up of civilian doctors trained in emergency situations, have been dispatched to the six most vulnerable states today: Michigan, Wisconsin, Indiana, Arizona, Vermont and New Hampshire. The numbers, the ones presented yesterday by Joe Biden, that made the headlines, but actually show just how limited the “toolbox” is. Now available to the US government in the face of the new phase of the pandemic: 500 million kits means one and a half tests for every American in a country of 330 million people. Thousands of military doctors and paramedics are a drop in the sea a storm of a million infections a day is about to reach: little more than a token aid, a testament of solidarity.

Four days before Christmas, in a room of the White House filled with holiday decorations, the American leader gives one of the toughest speeches of his presidency.. Biden must simultaneously reassure and warn a nation divided between fearful vaccinations and ideological opponents of vaccines, intolerant of any health restrictions: a people united only by indignation and frustration over an emergency, despite repeated promises of victory over the coronavirus, that has persisted for two years now and has not looming its end yet. Data from South Africa and other countries suggest this Variable Omicron Less dangerous than feared, but with its high transmissibility, it poses unprecedented challenges from a health and communication point of view. Infections can almost always turn into asymptomatic cases or, at any rate, benign flu syndromes: hence Biden’s call for vaccinated Americans not to panic, not to give up, and to be careful to celebrate family holidays.

It’s also a way to encourage those who fear going back to the nightmare of two years ago: “No, not March 2020: Omicron is contagious but less lethal, and today we’re prepared for an emergency. We’ve got 200 million Americans fully vaccinated, hospitals and intensive care ready, and we’re all over the place.” In mobile testing and vaccination stations “: thanks to this new closures have been avoided. But Biden can’t even risk his words sounding like a call to let your guard down: If that really happened Even a very low proportion of cases with complications are enough for a million infections a day to send hospitals to the ropes.

And here is an appeal to the people – the formidable in America – who are not vaccinated: ‘In the storm ahead you are the most exposed, you take a big risk. Get vaccinated: it’s free, you will only get the benefits, and overcome ideological rejection ». The tones of danger that were prevalent a few months ago are no longer. Now Biden is showing his conciliatory face and even clinging to archenemy Donald Trump: “He also did reinforcement: it’s probably one of the few things we get along with.”

In short, in a country where vaccinated people are still 61.5 percent, Biden has tried not to divide speech into two parts and not to criminalize those who refuse to vaccinate themselves. Very difficult, however, with politicians and the media who are cynically using the virus to win votes or to make money: “I understand those who have fears, but suspicions are fueled by information operators and even TVs spreading false news about viruses and treatments: you have huge responsibilities, stop!” . clear reference to Fox By Rupert Murdoch, The Great Network of the American Right.