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White Home advisor Andy Slavitt thinks 89% of seniors will enroll

White House advisor Andy Slavitt thinks 89% of seniors will sign up

Andy Slavitt, White House Senior Advisor on Covid Response, predicted a growing number of Americans will continue to take the Covid vaccine based on news and evidence from trusted sources.

“In Israel, where they are a little ahead of us, 89% of seniors have chosen the vaccine,” Slavitt said. “We believe we can achieve these numbers if we continue to reliably answer people’s questions because these are very good, safe and effective vaccines.”

Around 37% of people in the US over the age of 65 have been fully vaccinated, according to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In the last week alone, the states fired around 17 million shots.

To further facilitate the distribution of vaccines, the Biden government announced that it will launch a nationwide vaccine availability website that will act as a link between the numerous vaccine registration websites from states, pharmacies, and other companies.

Slavitt told CNBC’s The News with Shepard Smith that “the idea would be if you put in your zip code it would show you on a map all the places near you that claim to have vaccines.” He added that streamlining the process would not only reduce widespread frustration, but also reduce vaccine hesitation.

Host Shepard Smith pressed Slavitt on his comments on vaccination records. Speaking at a press conference at the White House Monday, Slavitt said vaccination records should be free, private and secure. However, it is “not the job of the government to save this data and do so”.

Slavitt said Tuesday night that a government-run vaccination record campaign could lead some Americans to believe that the government is too involved in collecting data required for a vaccination record. This resistance is counterproductive for the entire vaccination effort.

“We believe that the public is more reluctant to get vaccinated if they feel like the government. The federal government is too big a role in this,” Slavitt said.

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Stimulus checks might begin hitting financial institution accounts this weekend, White Home says

Stimulus checks could start hitting bank accounts this weekend, White House says

Federal Stimulus Checks are being prepared for print at the Philadelphia Financial Center.

Jeff Fusco | Getty Images News | Getty Images

Some Americans will receive new coronavirus stimulus checks as early as this weekend, the White House said on Thursday.

The news from White House press secretary Jen Psaki came minutes after President Joe Biden signed the $ 1.9 trillion Covid relief bill.

“People can expect direct deposits to be made into their bank accounts this weekend,” Psaki said at a press conference.

“This is only the first wave, of course,” noted Psaki, adding, “Payments to eligible Americans will continue over the next few weeks.”

In addition to billions of dollars in funding for vaccinations, state and local governments and other areas, the plan will send direct payments of up to $ 1,400 to the majority of Americans.

It would also extend a $ 300 per week increase in unemployment insurance through September 6 and extend the child tax credit by one year.

To use To grow‘s Relief Calculator to See How Much You Could Get Under the New Law:

The massive bill, which most Americans support, was passed through Congress without the support of Republican lawmakers. The Democratic House and Senate have put the bill on the process of budget voting through Congress, which allows laws that affect the budget to be passed by simple majority.

“This historic legislation is about rebuilding the backbone of this country,” Biden said before signing the legislation. “And give the people of this nation, the workers, the citizens, the people who built this country a chance to fight.”

Later on Thursday, in his first prime-time address to the nation, Biden said that passing the plan would allow his government to accelerate its efforts to reopen schools.

The president also offered a cautiously optimistic vision of the next steps in the fight against the pandemic.

“If we all do our part, this country will soon be vaccinated, our economy will improve, our children will be back in school and we will prove once again that this country can do everything,” Biden said of his address.

The speech took place on the 50th day of Biden as president and the one year anniversary of the pandemic.

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Health

Biden Covid staff holds briefing after White Home strikes up vaccine provide timeline

Biden Covid team holds briefing after White House moves up vaccine supply timeline

[The stream is slated to start at 11 a.m. ET. Please refresh the page if you do not see a player above at that time.]

President Joe Biden’s Covid-19 Response Team holds a press conference Wednesday on the coronavirus pandemic that infected more than 28 million Americans and killed at least 516,616 people in just over a year.

On Tuesday, Biden announced that the U.S. will have sufficient supplies of Covid-19 vaccines to vaccinate every adult in the nation by the end of May – two months earlier than expected. He also called on states to prioritize vaccinating teachers and school staff against Covid-19, with the aim of giving at least one shot to every educator and staff member across the country by the end of March.

“Let me be clear, we can reopen schools if the right steps are taken before staff are vaccinated,” Biden said at the White House on Tuesday. “But time and again we have heard from educators and parents who are concerned about it.”

Read CNBC’s live updates for the latest news on the Covid-19 outbreak.

–CNBC’s Will Feuer contributed to this report.

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Politics

Trump and his spouse obtained coronavirus vaccine earlier than leaving the White Home.

Trump and his wife received coronavirus vaccine before leaving the White House.

Former President Donald J. Trump and his wife Melania were tacitly given coronavirus vaccinations in January before leaving the White House, an adviser said Monday.

The news came a day after Mr Trump appeared at the CPAC political conference in Orlando, Florida, where he first encouraged people to get vaccinated.

“Everyone should go to get your shot,” said Mr. Trump during the speech. When The Times asked an adviser to the former president if he had received his, the answer was that he had one privately a month earlier.

Mr Trump’s secret approach came when some of his supporters expressed opposition to the vaccine and other officials tried to set an example by making the shot public.

President Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and former Vice President Mike Pence received vaccination shots on television cameras.

Mr. Trump’s concern about the vaccine has generally been whether as president he will get credit for his development. He never publicly encouraged people to take it while in office; The first vaccines were approved shortly after election day.

The adviser did not say whether Mr Trump had received both his first and second vaccinations in January or whether the second came at a different time.

Mr and Mrs Trump were both infected with the coronavirus in the fall, and the former president was hospitalized with a serious case.

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Trump slams Biden, teases 2024 bid in first put up White Home speech

Trump slams Biden, teases 2024 bid in first post White House speech

Donald Trump slammed President Joe Biden, trying to keep a grip on the future of the Republican Party on Sunday during his first major political address since leaving the White House last month, only to reveal a possible offer sometime in 2024.

Trump told a high profile Conservative activists gathering in Orlando, Florida that his trip was “far from over” and that he might decide to beat the Democrats for the “third time,” alluding to his false claims that he won the 2020 election to have.

“I want you to know that I will continue to fight right by your side,” said Trump.

When Trump said the Republicans would beat the Democrats in 2024, the crowd stood up and sang “USA, USA”.

It is widely expected that Trump will finally make an offer for the president in 2024. Unlike previous presidents, he made it clear that he had no intention of withholding comment on his successor’s actions and followed up on Biden on Sunday.

“We all knew the Biden administration was going to go bad – but none of us imagined how bad it would be or how far it would go,” Trump said.

Consistent with his penchant for dramatic exaggeration, Trump described Biden’s first month in office as “the most disastrous first month of a president in modern history, that’s right”.

“In just a short month we went from America to America first,” said Trump, citing a “new and terrible crisis on our southern border.”

Trump’s political ambitions put Republicans in a difficult position in the elections. The 74-year-old remains hugely popular with the party but failed to beat Biden in the 2020 election after losing support among moderates and independents.

Trump was named the winner of a CPAC straw poll with 55% of the vote on the Sunday before his speech. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis took second place in the 2024 presidential poll with 21% and first place in a straw poll without Trump.

After losing the presidential contest, Trump refused to admit for weeks and was charged by the House of Representatives with inciting the mob that attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6.

While the Senate eventually acquitted him, top Republicans, including Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell, have issued stinging reprimands against Trump’s actions. Trump reiterated his false claim that the election was “rigged” during his address.

Trump pursued a litany of Republicans Sunday including Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., Senator Mitt Romney, R-Utah and the other lawmakers who voted for his impeachment.

“Get rid of them all,” said Trump. “The RINOs with which we are surrounded will destroy the Republican Party and the American worker,” said Trump, using an acronym for Republicans only in their name.

Donald Trump Jr., the son of the ex-president, attacked Cheney on Friday at the CPAC, saying she was “tied to an establishment that did nothing but fail us”.

Earlier this month, Trump denounced McConnell in a statement as a “grumpy, sullen and unsmiling political hack”.

Despite his attacks on members of the GOP, Trump used the address to refuse to report that he was considering forming a new party.

“We’re not starting new parties,” said Trump. “We have the Republican Party, it will unite and be stronger than ever. I’m not starting a new party.”

“Wouldn’t that be brilliant? Let’s start a new party, share our vote so we can never win,” Trump added sarcastically.

Trump said he would “actively work” to support the Republicans in his form.

While Trump has refused to leave the limelight, he has had less direct access to the public since he was banned by Twitter for violating its guidelines against incitement to violence. The company has announced that the ban will remain in place even if Trump runs for office again.

Trump said during his speech that “we oppose the abandonment culture” and that GOP-led states should seek big tech companies that censor conservatives.

Sunday’s address also included a number of topics that were central to the Republican Party’s political agenda, such as: B. the tough attitude towards China and the demand for stricter immigration rules.

“The future of the Republican Party is a party that defends the social, economic and cultural interests and values ​​of working American families – of all races, colors and creeds,” Trump said. He added that the party was a party of “love”.

In part of his speech on Covid-19, Trump urged Biden to “open schools now,” highlighting his administration’s successful efforts to speed up vaccine production.

Since leaving the White House, Trump has been facing increasing legal threat in New York in which Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. is apparently investigating potential banking and insurance fraud related to Trump and his firm, the Trump Organization .

Vance received year-long tax returns from Trump and related documents on Monday after a protracted legal battle that made it to the Supreme Court twice. Trump has denied any wrongdoing and accused Vance of being politically motivated.

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Biden allies foyer White Home to search out alternative for finances nominee Tanden

Biden allies lobby White House to find replacement for budget nominee Tanden

Neera Tanden, President Joe Biden’s nominee for Director of the Office of Administration and Budget (OMB), attends a hearing with the Senate Committee on Budget on Capitol Hill in Washington on February 10, 2021.

Anna Moneymaker | Pool | Reuters

President Joe Biden’s administration is being asked to search for possible replacement candidates for Neera Tanden, according to people with direct knowledge of the matter as the decision to head the bureau of administration and budget is on the verge of not passing the Senate.

Numerous Biden allies, including those in the business community, are working for the White House, these people added.

Two names cited as potential replacements are Gene Sperling, who has ties to former Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, and Ann O’Leary, who has ties to Hillary Clinton’s campaign.

Biden’s allies are encouraging his advisors to prepare for the possibility the Senate will not approve Tanden, according to the people.

Many of these allies are also warning the White House of another possible scenario: if Tanden doesn’t have the votes to get through the Senate, she could simply withdraw from the nomination herself.

Those who described the lobbying did so on condition of anonymity, as these consultations were private.

Sperling was director of the National Economic Council under Clinton and Obama. O’Leary was the 2016 campaign advisor to Hillary Clinton, who later became Chief of Staff to California Governor Gavin Newsom.

O’Leary has publicly praised Tanden. The White House continued to stand by Tanden, including at the press conference on Monday.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said at the briefing that the government had urged lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to support Tanden’s nomination.

“We spoke on the phone with Democrats and Republicans and their offices over the weekend,” said Psaki.

White House and Center for American Progress officials, the Tanden think tank, did not respond to CNBC’s requests for comment.

Democrats currently control the Senate by a slim majority, but three lawmakers have come forward to say they will vote no to Tanden’s confirmation. One of those who have said they will not support Tanden is Senator Joe Manchin, DW.Va. Sens. Mitt Romney, R-Utah and Susan Collins, R-Maine also have no plans to vote for them.

Each of the three senators cited Tanden’s report on the demolition of federal officials on both sides of the aisle, including Senator Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., The chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, who is currently reviewing her nomination.

During her confirmation hearing, Sanders targeted Tanden’s story of “vicious attacks” against progressives and Sanders himself. In a CNN interview on Friday, Sanders did not say whether he would vote for Tanden, but rather that he would speak to her “early next week” .

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Health

Covid vaccine shipments delayed by storm to reach by midweek: White Home advisor

Covid vaccine shipments delayed by storm to arrive by midweek: White House advisor

Boxes containing the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine are being prepared for shipment on December 13, 2020 at the Pfizer Global Supply Kalamazoo manufacturing facility in Portage, Michigan.

Morry Gash | Getty Images

All deliveries of Covid-19 vaccine doses delayed by the historic winter storm last week are expected to be delivered mid-week, Andy Slavitt, Senior White House Advisor for Covid-19 Response, said Monday.

Slavitt said Friday that shipments of about 6 million cans, equivalent to shipments worth about three days, were delayed by the storm.

“I reported on Friday that we would make up for the deliveries by the end of this week,” said Slavitt on Monday at the Covid-19 White House press conference. “We now assume that any remaining cans will be delivered by the middle of the week.”

He added that the federal government plans to ditch about 7 million vaccine doses on Monday, a combination of shots left behind from last week and some that should run out this week. He said the government’s ability to catch up quickly on the storm was thanks to members of the military and McKesson staff who the government hired to assist with distribution and logistics in getting the vaccine up and running.

“Seventy McKesson employees volunteered to work Saturday night and Sunday morning at 1am to prepare shipments for an 11am transit deadline,” he said, adding that UPS employees are also flexible on delayed deliveries could react.

Slavitt added that although the White House expected to catch up on the doses dispensed quickly, “it will take some time” for vaccination centers to catch up on vaccinations.

“We encourage vaccination centers to follow the same example of those who work longer hours to catch up on supplies by allowing more appointments to vaccinate the anxious public as soon as possible,” he said. Slavitt added that vaccination centers are still closed in some parts of the country that were particularly hard hit by the storm.

The pace of vaccination in Texas, rocked by the storm that left millions in the state without electricity, suffered badly. Slavitt said the 7-day average of daily doses received fell 31% over the past week.

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Her White Blood Rely Was Dangerously Low. Was Med Faculty Nonetheless Secure?

Her White Blood Count Was Dangerously Low. Was Med School Still Safe?

In Niyongere’s office, she first spoke to an intern who disappeared after a full medical history and examination, and then returned with the young doctor the patient had spoken to by phone. A distant part of her brain observed that her doctor was younger than her.

The hematologist sat across from the patient and slowly explained what she knew. In someone who is otherwise healthy and whose other blood types are fine, this severe drop in neutrophils – what is medically called neutropenia – is usually caused by a drug. There were of course other options. Nutritional deficiencies could do this. Insufficient vitamin B12 or copper can affect the blood count. Some viral infections – HIV, mono, hepatitis – could also occur. And they would look for it. But her money was for drugs. The doctor knew that the only drug the patient was taking regularly was Adderall; She had a history of ADHD, and Niyongere had not found anything in the medical literature to associate this drug with neutropenia. Still, the haematologist insisted that this was the most likely cause of her isolated neutropenia.

They would be looking for infections. They would check their levels of vitamins and minerals. And if all of this were normal, the next step would be a bone marrow biopsy. The doctor expected it to be normal – with lots of blood cells of all kinds being made and released. Her first hematologist was right that a cancer or disease process that interfered with the production of these vital defenders was possible – but how healthy the patient looked and felt was very unlikely, according to Niyongere. In the meantime, she should stop the Adderall.

The following week was busy as the student prepared to resume the portion of her medical school education. In just a few days she would be in the hospital learning to care for sick patients, and she needed her immune system to be up to the task. She watched the test results come back. The vitamin levels were normal. She didn’t have any of the viruses. So that Friday the student went back to Niyongere’s office for a bone marrow biopsy. The doctor suggested doing this with sedation in the hospital operating room. No, the patient insisted. You would do it in the office. It was a difficult procedure, but the patient wanted to get it over with. She needed an answer and a few more neutrophils before she could be safe with the sick patients she would see in the hospital.

The results came back faster than expected. A wave of weakness forced her to sit down as she read the results: normal. There were no signs of leukemia or any other process that might affect your body’s ability to produce neutrophils. And she made a healthy amount of all white blood cells, including neutrophils. This meant that everything that happened to these warrior cells happened after they left the safety of the bone marrow and entered the bloodstream. That’s what you would expect if this were a response to a drug. Many drugs can cause neutropenia. Some drugs destroy these battle cells directly. Some trigger an immune response so that other parts of the body’s defense system mistake these cells for invading pathogens and attack them.

Sometimes, if it was a response to a drug, cell counts would go back up almost immediately. Neutrophils have a very short lifespan and a full set of new cells are released from the bone marrow every day. The student waited eagerly for her next blood count. Could just stopping Adderall bring them back to normal?

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Trump faces felony, civil investigations after White Home

Trump faces criminal, civil investigations after White House

Donald Trump

Andrew Harrer | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Former President Donald Trump could easily have avoided conviction on his second impeachment – but he might find it much more difficult to beat the various serious criminal and civil investigations he is now facing.

And at least one of those investigations has the potential for Trump to be jailed if convicted.

That would be an unprecedented event in American history as no ex-president has ever been charged with a crime, let alone one.

Trump, a Republican whose spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment, has claimed the probes were politically motivated witch hunts by Democratic prosecutors.

But judges in two of those investigations have repeatedly ruled against Trump’s attorneys in evidence-related disputes.

These decisions underscore the criminal and civil risk Trump faces, as well as the fact that on Jan. 20 he lost the protection from law enforcement that came into effect through serving as president.

“There are a lot of balls in the air in the potential criminal arena and if I were Donald Trump I wouldn’t just rest,” said Joseph Tacopina, a senior New York City criminal lawyer.

Find him the voices

During that call, which was taped, Trump pressured Raffensperger, the state’s top election official, to “find” enough votes for him to reverse his election loss to Joe Biden in Georgia.

Willis plans to ask a grand jury to issue subpoenas in the investigation next month, which, according to her office, is “monitoring” possible violations of electoral fraud laws as well as “false statements to state and local government agencies, conspiracy and extortion” and other charges.

Trump had claimed for months without evidence that he had been removed from a second term in office by widespread electoral fraud in Biden’s favor.

Thousands of Trump supporters who believed these falsehoods violently led to rioting in the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, however, ultimately failed to get Congress to reject Biden’s victory. Trump was charged by the House of Representatives for instigating this uprising with his allegations.

A Justice Department official said last month, while prosecutors are now focused on indicting individuals who rioted in the Capitol itself, “we will continue to obey the facts and the law” when dealing with whether or not Trump others are to be charged with inciting his allies.

Senate Minority Chairman Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who was one of 43 Republicans who voted for Trump’s acquittal Saturday as one of 43 Republicans in his impeachment trial, made a speech following the ruling that suggested that Trump could be prosecuted for the riot.

McConnell voted in favor of acquittal because a former president could not be charged with impeachment. But McConnell also said there is “no question” that Trump “is practically and morally responsible for provoking the“ insurrection ”.

“He hasn’t gotten away with anything,” said McConnell. “We have a criminal justice system in this country. We have civil trials. And former presidents are not immune to being [held] accountable by both. “

McConnell’s argument was underpinned by a civil lawsuit filed Tuesday by the NAACP and Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., In federal court in Washington. Trump, his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, and two right-wing groups, the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys, conspired to start the Capitol uprising.

“The uprising was the result of a carefully crafted plan by Trump, Giuliani and extremist groups like the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys, all of whom shared the common goal of using intimidation, harassment and threats to stop the certification of the electoral college.” The NAACP said Biden’s victory in a statement.

Trump’s spokesman, Jason Miller, said Trump “did not instigate or conspire to violence in the Capitol on Jan. 6”.

The worst criminal case

While the Capitol riot investigation and Georgia investigation are the most recent investigations, perhaps the most serious criminal case Trump faces is likely the one that has been carried out by the Manhattan Attorney’s Office for several years.

DA Cyrus Vance Jr.’s investigation appeared to have initially focused on a relatively minor issue: whether Trump’s company, the Trump Organization, was properly accounted for in their financial books, hushed up cash payments to two women who said they had sex with him.

If the company hadn’t properly recorded these payments in its records, the Trump Organization could have gotten away with a small civil penalty, if only this.

One of those payments was made by Trump’s attorney at the time, Michael Cohen, to pornstar Stormy Daniels just before the 2016 presidential election.

The other payment was made by the Trump allied editor of The National Enquirer to Playboy model Karen McDougal in the months leading up to the same election.

Trump, who denied having sex with both women, still refunded Cohen the payment to Daniels. Cohen later pleaded guilty to federal crimes which included campaign funding violations related to facilitating payouts to both women.

Cohen, who was in prison, has been working with Vance’s probe since 2018.

And the investigation, as court files and news reports suggest, has only grown in scope since then.

Last August, a court filing by Vance said the investigation could consider possible “insurance and banking fraud by the Trump organization and its officials”.

A month later, another filing from Vance suggested the investigation could also investigate Trump for possible tax crimes.

Cohen had testified to Congress in early 2019 that Trump had not properly inflated and deflated the value of his real estate assets for tax and insurance purposes.

Doubtful tax systems and outright fraud

Vance’s records appeared to refer to this testimony, and one file specifically stated that the New York Times reported that Trump operated “dubious tax systems, including outright fraud,” in the 1990s.

Shortly before Christmas, Vance’s investigators requested records from three cities in Westchester County, New York, as part of the investigation. The records refer to Trump’s 213 acre Seven Springs Estate property that extends across these towns.

And the Wall Street Journal reported last Saturday that Vance’s office is also monitoring loans Trump took out on Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue and three other Manhattan properties: 40 Wall Street, the Trump Plaza apartment building, and Trump International Hotel and Tower.

At the same time, Vance is waiting for the US Supreme Court to decide whether Trump should hear an appeal against a grand jury subpoena for years of income tax returns and other financial documents the prosecutor is seeking as part of his investigation.

The Supreme Court rejected Trump’s argument last summer that the subpoena issued to his accountants Mazars USA was on hold because of his then president status. However, the Supreme Court said Trump could bring new arguments against the subpoena to a judge in Mahattan federal court.

However, these arguments were quickly rejected by this judge and then by a jury of the 2nd District Court of Appeal.

Trump then asked the Supreme Court in October to hear his appeal against these denials. However, the court has yet to say whether it will.

Gerald Lefcourt, a Manhattan criminal defense attorney, said, “It is very strange that it has taken the Supreme Court so long” to decide whether it will accept the case, especially given that it has previously come across other related arguments decided with the summons.

“When will they rule?” Lefcourt asked rhetorically.

If the Supreme Court denies Trump’s motion, Vance, whose office has refused to comment on the nature of his investigation, would quickly get the tax returns and other documentation.

However, since these records are expected to be extensive, they can take several months to sift through and determine if they provide evidence of criminal prosecution.

Tacopina, the fellow criminal defense attorney, said Vance’s persistent search for Trump’s tax returns – which the former president voluntarily refused to publish publicly for years – could be a sign of how strongly the prosecutor believes his case is right.

“Cy Vance is fighting way too hard for this case to fall,” said Tacopina. “He seems to be on something.”

Civil investigation

While Vance awaits the Supreme Court decision, New York attorney general Letitia James conducts a civil investigation into Trump and his company, the focus of which partially overlaps with the criminal investigation.

James’ investigations have been ongoing since 2019 but did not become known until August with a court battle for answers that her investigators sought from Eric Trump, the second eldest son of Donald Trump, who runs the Trump Organization with his brother Donald Trump Jr.

James’ office said it was researching how Trump valued certain properties, including the Seven Springs Estate, as well as properties in Manhattan, Chicago and Los Angeles.

A big question related to the Seven Springs property is whether the site’s valuation has been grossly inflated to demand a $ 2.1 million tax deduction for a 2015 conservation donation.

Eric Trump, after initially agreeing to be interviewed by James’ investigators, later turned down that deal, the AG said. Eric Trump then tried to postpone the interview until after the presidential election.

James then asked a judge to force Eric to follow the interview the judge conducted in September.

James later called the ruling a “great victory” which “makes it clear that no one is above the law, not even an organization or a person named Trump”.

For his part, Eric Trump said at the time: “The New York attorney general called my father an ‘illegitimate’ president and promised to bring him down while she was running for office. Her actions since have shown continued political vengeance and an attempt at her meddle in the upcoming elections. “

Eric was questioned under oath by James’ investigators in early October.

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White Home says Ebola outbreaks in Africa want swift motion

White House says Ebola outbreaks in Africa need swift action

The two burgeoning Ebola outbreaks in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Guinea require swift action “to avoid catastrophic consequences,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Tuesday.

It is the first official White House statement on the recurrence of Ebola in the two African countries. Psaki said President Joe Biden had been briefed on the situation in Central and West Africa.

“While the world is plagued by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Ebola has re-emerged in both Central and West Africa at the same time. The world cannot afford to go the other way,” Psaki wrote in the statement. “We must do everything in our power to respond quickly, effectively and by reasonable means to stop these outbreaks before they turn into large-scale epidemics.”

The World Health Organization announced last week that it had confirmed new cases of Ebola in Butembo, a city in North Kivu Province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The city was an epicenter of the world’s second largest Ebola outbreak, which was declared over in June. WHO officials said Friday they would transport vaccines to the hard-to-reach city and try to contain the highly deadly disease before it spreads widely.

Regardless, Guinea officials confirmed the reappearance of Ebola in N’Zerekore in southern Guinea over the weekend. The West African nation declared an Ebola epidemic on Sunday after at least three people died and four more were infected with the disease. The neighboring countries of Sierra Leone and Liberia have put their citizens on alert.

In contrast to the highly infectious coronavirus, which can be transmitted by people without symptoms, it is believed that Ebola spreads mainly through people who are already visibly ill. The virus spreads through direct contact with the blood or body fluids of people who are sick or have died of the disease, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Ebola has an average death rate of 50% which, according to the WHO, can vary depending on the outbreak.

Psaki said US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan spoke with ambassadors from Guinea, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sierra Leone and Liberia on Tuesday “to convey the United States’ readiness to work closely with these countries”.

“Mr. Sullivan highlighted President Biden’s commitment to lead the United States to strengthen health security and create better systems to prevent, detect and respond to health emergencies,” said Psaki. “Outbreaks require a quick and overwhelming response to avoid disastrous consequences.”

The recurrence of Ebola in Guinea and the Democratic Republic of the Congo has hit global health specialists particularly hard, as these countries have the two worst Ebola outbreaks in history. The outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, declared in June, lasted nearly two years. At the time of the end, there were a total of 3,481 cases and 2,299 deaths, according to WHO.

The infamous Ebola outbreak in West Africa began in Guinea in 2014 before spreading across land borders to Sierra Leone and Liberia, according to WHO. By the end of 2016, there were more than 28,000 cases, including over 11,000 deaths, according to the WHO.

“Since the 2014 Ebola epidemic in West Africa, the United States has sought to increase and prioritize health security support with partners under the global health security agenda and with strong support from Congress,” Psaki added Tuesday. “We cannot afford to take our foot off the gas – even in the fight against COVID, we must ensure the capacity and funding of health security worldwide.”

During the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, the US CDC confirmed 11 cases of Ebola in the US, mostly among medical professionals who had traveled to Africa to help with the response. Dr. Syra Madad, senior director of the system-wide program for specific pathogens at New York City Health + Hospitals, told CNBC on Tuesday that the city was working to ensure that its outbreak response protocols are up to date.

“Every time an epidemic is reported, at least in New York City – we know we are a travel center – we need to make sure our people are up to date on skills [personal protective equipment] and identify these patients, “she said in a telephone interview.” There’s a big mess just to make sure the concept of the operation plan is dusted off. “