Joe Biden tested positive for Covid with mild symptoms in July and tested positive in a rebound case seen in a small percentage of people who take the antiviral drug Paxlovid. In August, he tested negative twice and ended his more than two weeks of isolation at the White House.
Only 20 million people in the United States have received an updated COVID vaccine through last week. White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said on Thursday it was not enough, Reuters reported.
"We need everyone to step up and get their updated vaccine as soon as possible," she said.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that 4.5 million Americans had received the updated vaccine over the past week, the largest weekly increase since the fall vaccination program launched and up about 40% from the prior week.
The United States started rolling out the updated Covid shots in September, designed to take on the circulating BA.4 and BA.5 Omicron subvariants and the original version of the virus.
Earlier this month, the United States has extended the Covid-19 pandemic's designation as a public health emergency for an additional 90 days, keeping policies including high hospital reimbursement rates and expanded Medicaid.
The decision came after President Joe Biden declared in an earlier interview that "pandemic is over". Health professionals have harshly criticized Biden's remarks.
US Health Secretary Xavier Becerra announced on October 13 that the extension would be valid until January 11, 2023. Becerra’s statement says that “a public health emergency exists and has existed since January 27, 2020, nationwide".
(With Reuters inputs)
