US President Joe Biden was jabbed with an updated COVID-19 booster shot on Tuesday, October 25, and urged Americans to reinforce protection against the infection before a potential surge in cases in the forthcoming months.

Biden delivered warnings to American citizens that the increasing COVID-19 cases in Europe and the emergence of new variants of the virus could lead to an increase in cases in the United States in the winter.

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“As a country, we have a choice to make,” Biden said. “Can we repeat what happened in the past winters — more infections, more hospitalizations, more loved ones getting sick, even dying from the virus? Or can we have a much better winter if we use all — all — the tools we have available to us now?” he added.

The booster on Tuesday was also Biden’s fifth overall COVID-19 vaccine dose. The US President tested positive for COVID-19 earlier this year and received a booster shot three months later.

The White House has dubbed the new COVID-19 booster doses similar to yearly flu shots and officials have urged Americans to get jabbed in October before the holiday season. The new booster shots have been manufactured by Pfizer and Moderna and 20 million doses have been administered till now since September.

As per the White House, only one in five senior American citizens has received the booster dose and President Biden said the country needs to work on it.

“The truth is, not enough people are getting it,” he said before adding, “We’ve got to change that.”

The White House declared steps to try to raise attention to the booster doses. The health department is bringing in advertisements focused on the Black and Latino communities in the US, along with radio jingles which will be focusing on rural communities. The White House has also announced that the health department will continue to hold temporary vaccination clinics in regions which have lower vaccination rates, which includes a NASCAR race in Arizona.

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Joe Biden also urged businesses and schools to help citizens receive the booster doses. While he claimed that the pandemic was over during a television interview recently, Biden said it remains a ‘necessity to deal with’ currently and Americans need to make sure it does not become a national emergency in the future.

“We’re in the longest stretch since the virus emerged when our hospitals are not overrun with severely ill Covid patients,” Biden added.