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With the Omicron variant rapidly spreading, President Joe Biden has made public his administration’s measures that provide for even more significant increases in booster vaccination and immunization, the provision of 500 million free rapid tests for Americans, and a increased support for overcrowded hospitals.
The president’s plan comes as the number of new coronavirus cases in the US is rising sharply again, with 143,000 cases of infections recorded on Monday and 1,300 deaths as a result of COVID. Nearly three-quarters of the new cases are related to the highly contagious Omicron variant.
During his speech at the White House, President Biden said cable television and social media had benefited from misinformation about the pandemic. He said those who misinform should put an end to this, and immediately.
Mr Biden said the country would not return to it by March 2020 and added that Americans have a patriotic duty to be vaccinated.
The president warned unvaccinated Americans on Tuesday that they were putting themselves and their loved ones at risk amid the rapid spread of the Omicron variant.
“If you are not fully vaccinated, you have reason to worry,” Biden said.
The president said the vaccinated could be infected with COVID-19, but they are protected from severe cases of the disease and death.
In his speech Tuesday afternoon, President Biden detailed major changes to his plan for the winter season in terms of anti-Cavid efforts, spurred by the emergence of Omicron, about whom scientists still have many questions.
An important part of the plan is Mr. Biden’s decision for the government to purchase 500 million fast coronavirus tests and distribute them free of charge to Americans starting in January.
To secure a free trial every American will use a new website where they can order one. The tests will be mailed free of charge, the White House announced earlier.
This decision marks a major shift in President Biden’s plan, which had previously called for many Americans to buy the tests themselves, which are very difficult to find, and then seek reimbursement from their health insurance. For the first time, the US government will send free COVID-19 tests directly to Americans, after more than a year of encouragement from public health experts.
Experts have criticized Mr. Biden’s initial approach, buy first, refund later, and have warned that the US will face other testing problems at a critical time. Test advocates cite the example of countries like the UK and Germany, which have distributed billions of tests to the public and recommend that people be tested twice a week.
The federal government will also create new testing sites. A federal law will also be used which, among other things, authorizes the president to require businesses to accept and prioritize contracts for materials deemed necessary for national defense, regardless of the losses they may incur. The law will be used to help produce more tests. The first new federally backed testing site will open in New York this week.
However, the increase in testing by the Biden administration continues to be far from meeting the needs for all Americans to be tested at recommended rates, twice a week. To do so, the U.S. would need 2.3 billion tests a month for all Americans over the age of 12, according to the nonprofit Kaiser Family. That’s almost five times as much as half a billion tests that Mr. Biden has decided to offer.
Currently, the U.S. can perform about 600 million tests a month, with home tests making up about half, according to researchers from Arizona State University. Asked by reporters, President Biden said that the government has not failed in terms of policies pursued in relation to the tests, but the situation has become problematic due to the rapid and unpredictable spread of the new variant of the coronavirus.voa
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