Kamala Harris says Biden administration ‘didn’t see Omicron coming’

US vice president Kamala Harris has said that the Biden administration did not anticipate the Delta and Omicron variants, as the US stared at another dark winter with an average daily spike of 123,000 new Covid infections.

In an interview with the Los Angeles Times on Friday, Ms Harris said: “We didn’t see Delta coming. I think most scientists did not — upon whose advice and direction we have relied — didn’t see Delta coming.”

“We didn’t see Omicron coming. And that’s the nature of what this, this awful virus has been, which as it turns out, has mutations and variants,” she added.

Her comments come a day after Joe Biden warned of a “winter of severe illness and death” to the unvaccinated in his stark remarks after a meeting with his members of Covid-19 response team.

The country recorded more than 156,000 cases reported on Thursday and more than 143,000 the day prior. Hospitalisations linked to Covid have jumped to 45 per cent over the last month and confirmed cases surged to 40 per cent, averaging 123,000 per day, according to a Reuters tally.

President Joe Biden in his 4 July speech celebrated independence from the virus. He had said: “While the virus hasn’t been vanquished, we know this: It no longer controls our lives. It no longer paralyses our nation. And it’s within our power to make sure it never does again.”

Ms Harris denied that they had declared premature victory of the virus to the Times.

“We have not been victorious over it,” the vice president said. “I don’t think that in any regard anyone can claim victory when, you know, there are 800,000 people who are dead because of this virus.”

About 77 per cent of people in the US above age 5 and older have been vaccinated with at least one dose while 65 per cent are fully inoculated against the deadly virus, according to data from the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.

And about 31 per cent of Americans aged above 18 years have got their booster shot as Biden administrations push for people to get their third shot.

“The biggest threat still to the American people is the threat to the unvaccinated. And most people who believe in the efficacy of the vaccine and the seriousness of the virus have been vaccinated. That troubles me deeply,” Ms Harris said.

Meanwhile, the new surge is leading to cancellation of events and Christmas celebrations across the country. The National Football League has rescheduled three-weekend games after infections were reported in the members of multiple teams.

The National Hockey League postponed another game, heightening doubts about the league’s plan to send the world’s top players to the Beijing Olympics in February.

In New York City, which recorded its hightest surge, Radio City Music Hall announced cancellation of all remaining dates of the Rockettes’ annual Christmas Spectacular “due to increasing challenges from the pandemic,” after staging more than 100 shows over the past seven weeks.