and omicron is spreading. we think that over the course of 2022 we will get to an endemic stage, and the plan is the proposal is we need a strategic plan for that, that covers vaccines, getting more people vaccinated. and the only way to do that, as we ve been very clear over time, is mandates. we got voluntarily to about 60%. to get beyond that w ee going to need the employer mandate that osha has put out, the health care mandate that cms has put out. we need to improve our ventilation system. we need to get more therapies and get the link between a positive test and getting a therapy much closer so you can actually start in three days, and not only the rich and well off get it. those are the kinds of things we need to put in place over the next three months to be prepared when covid is really just in the air, like rsv, other respiratory viruses, influenza, adenovirus. all the other respiratory viruses. it going to be here.
former white house political director under george w. bush, sara fagen. welcome to sunday, it s meet the press. announcer: from nbc news in washington, the longest running show in television history, this is meet the press with chuck todd. good sunday morning. as we ve said before, as covid goes, so goes joe biden s presidency. right now covid is a major health and political problem. a combination of new variants like delta and omicron and stubborn vaccine refusal among millions has led to an all-time high in cases. the seven-day average has blown past previous records. that doesn t begin to account for people who don t report results of at-home tests or who are asymptomatic. hospitalizations are spiking as well. but the death rate so far has ticked up much more slowly, owing in part to a less severe illness caused by omicron. the public is in a different place than it was a year ago, and the biden administration is desperately trying to catch up. the cdc has offered confusing
the white house and the administration certainly could have done more earlier to work with the private sector to create a more stable demand by putting in large-volume orders. then finally on the back end, you have the private sector, everyone from walmart to health care systems that are misinterpreting willfully misinterpreting the cdc isolation guidance saying, glow have to go back to work at five days. that guidance is to indicate who is infectious, contagious, a threat to others, not when you re well enough to go back to work. very quickly, zeke, are we ready for the next variant? we weren t ready for omicron. are we ready for the next one? i think we have to prepare more and get better get more vaccines out there, more tests, but also better air quality. people have to wear better masks and be more scrupulous about it. if it s like omicron where we re not that infectious, i think
welcome back. the panel is with us welcome back. the panel is with us remotely, but thank you omicron. anna palmer, founder of punchbowl news, chief white house correspondent peter alexander, democratic pollster cornell belcher, and republican strategist sara fagen, former white house political director for former president george w. bush. i think the most fitting coda on january 6th was the ted cruz moment with tucker carlson. i have two parts here of ted cruz and his relationship with donald trump. here is how he described january 6th this week. we are approaching a solemn anniversary this week, and it is an anniversary of a violent terrorist attack on the capitol. the way i phrased things yesterday, it was sloppy, and it was, frankly, dumb. it s not the first time we have heard ted cruz say something harsh and walk back. here is a highlight reel. donald, you re a sniveling coward, and leave heidi the hell
more about people who get infect who had are vaccinated. so the shot will likely protect you from omicron but fully vaccinated people will still get it. okay. this is dr. malone. omicron blows right through the vaccines and the triple jab. omicron is very, very infectious. data are in that both double and triple vaccination is not protecting from you omicron. dr. fauci has yet to get the memo and offered this bit of holiday cheer as you prepare to welcome family around the family for christmas. if someone in your family is not vaccinated should you ask them not to show up? yes, i would do. that . if there is an unvaccinated