Joe Biden is to address the nation on Tuesday amid a surge of the Omicron variant of Covid in the US, and the president is expected to stress the importance of getting vaccinated and staying safe this Christmas.
Providing a preview of the president’s speech, the White House press secretary told reporters that Mr Biden does not plan to impose a national lockdown. Instead, he will be encouraging people to inoculate themselves against Covid.
"This is not a speech about locking the country down. This is a speech about the benefits of being vaccinated," Ms Psaki told reporters.
The speech comes after the president himself came in close contact with a White House staffer who later tested positive for Covid-19, underscoring the widespread nature of the virus.
The staffer spent about half an hour around the president on Air Force One on Friday, and was fully vaccinated and boosted, Ms Psaki said. Mr Biden, who tested negative for Covid on Monday, will be tested again on Wednesday.
