Current Events > Biden to pledge 500M free at-home COVID-19 tests to counter omicron

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/12/21/biden-omicron-speech-covid-testing-hospitals/

President Biden in a speech Tuesday afternoon will outline plans to expand coronavirus testing sites across the country, distribute a half-billion free at-home tests and deploy more federal health resources to aid strained hospitals, as the omicron variant drives a fresh wave of infections.

The speech will not focus on locking the country down, White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters Monday, but the president will be direct and clear with the American people about the benefits of being vaccinated, the steps were going to take to increase testing, and the risks posed to unvaccinated individuals.

We know how to protect people from severe illness, the White House said in a statement previewing the speech. We have the tools needed to do it.

The Biden administration will start delivering a half-billion free rapid tests to homes next month, according to the statement, and health officials will set up a website where Americans can order them. New federal testing sites will also be established across the country, starting with one in New York City this week.

The Biden administration has emphasized increased testing as one of the pillars of its pandemic response, but it has been criticized for failing to provide at-home tests at low cost. Americans are paying $25 for a pack of two tests, if they can find any at a pharmacy.

Health officials say they fear that the emergence of the quickly spreading omicron variant could overwhelm health-care facilities nationwide. The variant accounted for 73 percent of new coronavirus cases in the United States between Dec. 12 and 18, according to modeled projections from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

To relieve overrun hospitals, the federal government will immediately send emergency medical teams to Michigan, Indiana, Wisconsin, Arizona, New Hampshire and Vermont, the president is expected to say. Some of those states, such as Michigan, had been suffering from case surges even before the announcement of the first omicron case in the United States this month.

The administration will deploy an additional 1,000 military doctors, nurses, paramedics and other health-care personnel to strained medical centers in January and February as needed, the White House said. The president is set to order the Federal Emergency Management Agency to work with states and territories to prepare more hospital beds ahead of expected surges.

Federal officials have earmarked N95 masks, gloves, gowns and ventilators from the national stockpile ready for shipment to states that may require rapid assistance in medical supplies. The Administration has pre-positioned these supplies so that we can send them to states that need them immediately, the White House said.

Bidens speech comes three weeks after he unveiled his initial plan to combat a winter surge, which included campaigns to increase vaccinations and booster shots, more stringent testing for international travelers, and plans to make rapid at-home coronavirus testing free for more people.

But after close to a year of repeated messages to get vaccinated, administration officials have struggled to get through to holdouts, trying social media campaigns, vaccination lotteries and other efforts to raise awareness. Still, fewer than one-third of fully vaccinated people have received booster shots.

On Tuesday, Biden is expected to renew his plea with Americans to get vaccinated and boosted, as well as outline efforts to make vaccination easier, including new pop-up clinics.

While cases among vaccinated individuals will likely increase due to the more transmissible Omicron, evidence to date is that their cases will most likely be mild, the White House said. In contrast, unvaccinated individuals are at high risk of getting COVID-19, getting severely ill, and even dying.

Sweet thats like two a person right? How do I get mine.

I still want to know how we know all this information but had to wait like five days for him to actually give the speech

and also I literally don't know what time today he speaks

PatrickMahomes posted...

I still want to know how we know all this information but had to wait like five days for him to actually give the speech

and also I literally don't know what time today he speaks

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/how-to-watch-biden-speech-today-time-live-stream-for-president-s-covid-omicron-address/ar-AAS1nft

He is scheduled to speak at 2:30 p.m. and his remarks will be live streamed on the White House's YouTube channel.

PatrickMahomes posted...

I still want to know how we know all this information but had to wait like five days for him to actually give the speech

and also I literally don't know what time today he speaks

I'd imagine it's a scheduling thing.

https://youtu.be/rHtBYfFc-oA

wow he rose his voice O_O;

I'd like to personally thank Jen Psaki for this

cue thousands of MAGAts ordering as many as they can just so they can toss them in the trash.

Right after the holidays, when everyone has already contracted and spread it. Perfect lol

Why'd it take so long when people have been urging this for awhile now?

Biden likes pledging things

Meanwhile in the UK I currently have three packs of ten sitting on a shelf.

lilORANG posted...

Right after the holidays, when everyone has already contracted and spread it. Perfect lol

Why'd it take so long when people have been urging this for awhile now?

Biden's career is one of being 10 years late to the right position, so it's an improvement that the gap is now measured in months.

lilORANG posted...

Right after the holidays, when everyone has already contracted and spread it. Perfect lol

Why'd it take so long when people have been urging this for awhile now?

Is there not free testing in your area, which is more accurate and less costly to tax payers?

Hopefully not contaminated tests.

CruelBuffalo posted...

Is there not free testing in your area, which is more accurate and less costly to tax payers?

There is! This is what that looks like:
https://twitter.com/VZerbst/status/1473072418260279296
https://twitter.com/ZohranKMamdani/status/1473098494588108807
https://twitter.com/maui_nurtures/status/1472264768652075009
https://twitter.com/JarradBrevi9/status/1473080356395909121

I'm so glad I can get a free covid test whenever I want at work >_>

I went to a wedding last month and asked work if I could give myself a rapid test the day before and they were like "yeah sure go ahead"

Mearcstapa posted...

cue thousands of MAGAts ordering as many as they can just so they can toss them in the trash.

Oh thats for sure gonna happen.

Had no idea the east coast states didnt have their testing together. That really is the most efficient cheapest way to do it mass testing, moreover PCR test is more reliable than the quick tests. The at home test should really be for rural folks too far from treating. Hopefully those states get their testing protocols together soon for this surge.

Mearcstapa posted...

cue thousands of MAGAts ordering as many as they can just so they can toss them in the trash.

Yep, with thousands of other Facebook redcaps making up conspiracies about the at-home tests really being "covid on a stick", purposely infecting people so something something NWO something something bill gates.

This happened in canada and hoarders went store-to-store the morning they got released (the last friday before xmas week which is notoriously busy as companies try to wrap up projects before the time off, so most people didnt even have a chance to get one).

You can now purchase them for $100-200 on websites similar to craigslist.

Because the government always thinks things through.

Naysaspace posted...

This happened in canada and hoarders went store-to-store the morning they got released (the last friday before xmas week which is notoriously busy as companies try to wrap up projects before the time off, so most people didnt even have a chance to get one).

You can now purchase them for $100-200 on websites similar to craigslist.

Because the government always thinks things through.

That says more about the US than anything. In the UK theyve been readily available for about a year and not had these issues.

Bullying on Twitter works.

lZUAL_REBlRTH posted...

That says more about the US than anything. In the UK theyve been readily available for about a year and not had these issues.

He said Canada.

Alteres posted...

He said Canada.

Canada then.