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President Biden counseled caution but urged against alarm or panic during an address on the COVID-19’s omicron variant, according to the AP.

A better place: President Biden noted that the United States is in a significantly different environment than it was at the outset of the pandemic two years ago. With the existence of widely available tools like vaccines, booster shots and additional therapeutics capable of effectively treating COVID-19 and its symptoms, the danger from infection is significantly less than it was at the beginning of the pandemic, or during last winter’s surge.

A different landscape: The unemployment rate has fallen steeply since last year, bringing millions of Americans back to work. At the same time, most young people have returned to in-person classes, and the incidence of death and serious illness is way down—especially among vaccinated individuals.

A “pandemic of the unvaccinated”: The worst effects of COVID-19 continue to be seen primarily among unvaccinated individuals, who are many times more likely to face serious illness, hospitalization and death than people who have been fully vaccinated against the virus. In his remarks, President Biden urged Americans to get a booster dose of the vaccine to achieve the greatest possible protection.

Get vaxxed: For more information on the importance of vaccines and how they can protect you and the people you care about, check out the NAM and The Manufacturing Institute’s This Is Our Shot project.