Biden admin to develop new Covid vaccine, recommends 'everybody get it'

On Friday, President Joe Biden revealed that he signed off on a new proposal to Congress for additional funds to develop a new COVID-19 vaccine "that is needed, that's necessary, that works" and will "likely be recommended that everybody get it." 

During a press conference, the President asked if he could speak on an uptick in COVID-19 cases and he responded, "As a matter of fact I signed off this morning on a proposal to present to the Congress a request for additional funding for a new vaccine that is needed, that's necessary, that works." 

He added that it will "likely be recommended that everybody get it, no matter whether they got it before or not." 

Earlier this month, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warned of a new "highly mutated variant" of the coronavirus known as BA.2.86. The World Health Organization announced on X, that the variant was "under monitoring... due to the large number of mutations it carries."

"More data are needed to understand this #COVID19 variant and the extent of its spread, but the number of mutations warrants attention," it added. "WHO is tracking 3 variants of interest and 7 variants under monitoring at the moment. WHO continues to call for better surveillance, sequencing, and reporting of #COVID19 as this virus continues to circulate and evolve."

The new information coming out from the health organization has some people encouraging others to begin wearing masks again. On Wednesday, CNN told its readers, "If you’re at high risk of serious illness or death from COVID-19, it’s time to dust off those N95 masks and place them snugly over your nose and mouth to protect yourself from a recent uptick of the virus."

They did however acknowledge that Americans are reluctant to go back to the pandemic-era mandates. "Despite the concern among experts and some institutions, Americans don't appear to be worried enough about the recent rise in cases to change their behavior," it said. 

However, some institutions such as Morris Brown College in Atlanta, Georgia, have begun to require students and faculty to wear masks while on campus this week as "precautionary steps." The Lionsgate film studio also issued a mask mandate for some of its employees at its flagship office in Santa Monica after some employees tested positive for the virus.