Biden will urge Americans to get vaccinated and receive a booster to combat the ...

President Joe Biden on Monday urged Americans to get vaccinated or get their booster shots amid warnings about the spread of the Omicron variant – but warned that the infectious new variant was not a cause for 'panic.'   

'You have to get your vaccine. You have to get the shot. You have to get the booster,' Biden said, speaking to the nation from the White House Roosevelt Room, which is now filled with holiday decorations.

'Sooner or later we’re going to see new cases of this variant here in the United States,' Biden said, with infections disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci standing behind him while wearing a mask.

But he cautioned: 'This variant is a cause for concern, not a cause for panic.'

He called for fighting the variant with science and speed, 'not chaos and confusion.' 

He asked Americans to mask when required, get vaccinated, and get boosted, and said he is 'sparing no effort.' 

'We’re going to fight and beat this new variant as well,' he said.

He pleaded with the unvaccinated to 'go get that first shot.' 

But Biden isn't pushing new travel restrictions, after the U.S. shut down travel from seven south African nations following initial reports out of South Africa. Those restrictions take effect Monday.

A spoke amid warnings – but also uncertainty – about whether the highly transmissible new variant could reshape or prolong the battle against the COVID-19.

Canada's health minister said the Sunday the variant had been detected there. 

It was his first speech fully devoted to the coronavirus since Nov. 3rd, as he contends with a range of challenges including inflation and supply chain issues, implementing the new infrastructure law, and trying to get his social policy agenda through Congress. 

His coronavirus advisor, Dr. Anthony Fauci, called speculation about the new variant premature in an appearance on ABC's 'Good Morning America.'

'We really don't know,' Fauci said. 'We should be concerned, and our concern should spur us to do the things that we know work,' he said.

National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins told MSNBC there are important differences between South Africa, where Omnicron was identified, and the U.S. – which already has seen a proliferation of the Delta variant.

 'It was all on its own,' Collins said of the South African landscape, where covid infection numbers were low, in a country considered to have advanced surveillance in place. 'We don't know what happens if omicron ends up in a place where there's already a lot of delta — would it be able to compete or not? That's one of the big questions we don't know.' 

The new Covid variant Omicron could turn out to be a 'Christmas gift' if it causes milder illness, a German health expert claimed today after South African doctors said the strain appears to cause less severe symptoms. 

Medics in South Africa said the strain is causing mild symptoms — such as a headache and tiredness — than previous versions of the virus and hasn't led to a single hospitalisation or death. 

Professor Karl Lauterbach, a clinical epidemiologist who is in the running to be Germany's next health minister, said the early reports means Omicron could be a Christmas gift and may even speed up the end of the pandemic. 

He suggested that it has so many mutations — 32 on the spike protein alone, twice as many as Delta — which could mean it is optimised to infect and be less lethal, in line with how most respiratory viruses evolve. 

Professor Paul Hunter, an infectious diseases expert at the University of East Anglia, said the theory 'may prove to be true' but said that high levels of previous infection and vaccination may be offering protection against the strain.

This would also be a positive sign, because it shows that the highly-mutated variant is not completely unrecognisable to the immune system of Covid survivors or vaccines. 

Scientists have long-warned the coronavirus is unlikely to ever be eradicated but will instead transition into a milder cold-like virus. 

However, experts warned today that they need at least two weeks to determine what impact the Omicron variant will have, due to the time it takes for someone to become seriously unwell after catching the strain.

Scientists also need at least two weeks to work out whether Omicron's worrying mutations could make it more infectious than Delta and resistant to vaccines will translate in the real world.

And most cases have so far been in younger people, who experience milder symptoms from the virus compared to older adults.  

It comes as Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said Christmas plans could be put in jeopardy by the new strain, raising fears Britons could be stung with last-minute curbs like last year.

Ms Sturgeon confirmed six cases of the variant have been recorded in Scotland, some of which do not have links to abroad, suggesting Omicron is now spreading in the community.

She called for the UK — which has nine confirmed cases of the variant — to toughen up its approach by ordering all arrivals to self-isolate at home for eight days instead of two to curb the spread of the new strain. But Boris Johnson rejected the plan and said the Government will review its approach in three weeks.

The new variant was first detected last week and most cases are concentrated in South Africa, where daily infections soared to 6,048 on Saturday, a 20-fold increase on the 306 positive tests registered two weeks earlier. But deaths have so far remained flat, with 20 recorded on Saturday.

And doctors have said symptoms among patients are mild and include tiredness, muscle aches and a headache.

But they warned the first cases of the variant — scientifically known as B.1.1.529 — in the country have been among younger people, who tend to have higher infection levels due and experience milder illness.

Experts said symptoms and their severity could be different as Omicron spreads into older age groups.

Dr Angelique Coetzee, chair of the South African Medical Association and the first person to spot the new variant in a patient, said seven people she treated had extreme tiredness, mild muscle aches, a scratchy throat and a dry cough. 

She told the BBC's Andrew Marr Show: 'What we are seeing clinically in South Africa – and remember I'm at the epicentre – it's extremely mild.'

Dr Coetzee said those infected with the strain recovered well at home and 'get better within two to three days after we've seen them'.

When asked if the UK was 'panicking unnecessarily' she said: 'I would say yes, at this stage I would say definitely. There's no need to panic.'

Responding to the comments, Professor Lauterbach tweeted 'it would really be an early Christmas present' if Omicron was a less severe version of the virus.

But he cautioned that only six per cent of South Africa's population is aged over 65-years-old, while 'Germany is the oldest country in Europe with many chronically ill people'.

Professor Hunter told MailOnline the reports of mild illness are anecdotal so can't be relied on too much.

If Omicron does cause less severe illness, it is 'probably down to prior immunity either from infection or vaccination', he said. 

It 'could be less virulent', but hopes that it is milder 'may or may not prove to be true', Professor Hunter said.

'Even if it is less virulent, taking the booster shot is the most important thing people can do to protect themselves,' he added.

Scientists have warned the world is weeks away from knowing what impact the new variant will have, due to the delay in people catching the virus and becoming severely unwell.  

Dr Anthony Fauci, the US chief medical advisor, said 'it will take approximately two more weeks' until experts have more definitive information on transmissibility and severity.

And Scotland's First Minister said the coming weeks will reveal 'much more' about the variant.

British scientists are waiting for a live version of the variant to arrive in laboratories

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