Omicron unlikely to hit supply chain long-term but vaccinations key -Raimondo

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The Omicron coronavirus variant appears unlikely to have a long-term impact on manufacturing supply chain in the coming months, but that will depend on how many people get vaccinated, U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said on Thursday.

“I don’t think Omicron will have long-term … significant disruption in the supply chain,” she told CNN in an interview. “It really depends on if people do what needs to get done and get vaccinated.

“It’s certainly a factor,” Raimondo said of the new variant. “There will be some disruption.”

Supply-chain issues continue to affect many U.S. industries, and much of the shipping crunch has resulted from the pandemic.

President Joe Biden, speaking on Wednesday ahead of a meeting with U.S. officials and private-sector companies on the issue, said U.S. actions to eliminate supply-chain snarls had staved off a pre-Christmas crisis.

(Reporting by Susan Heavey; Editing by Edmund Blair and Jonathan Oatis)