White House says U.S. will not lock down to fight Covid as European nations implement restrictions

“We can curb the spread of the virus without having to in any way shut down our economy,” White House coronavirus response coordinator Jeff Zients said. “We have 82% of people now with one shot and more and more people getting vaccinated each week,” Zients said. Austria’s lockdown began Monday and will last for at most 20 days, with a nationwide vaccine mandate taking effect Feb. 1. The Netherlands’ launched a partial lockdown on Saturday as well.