With Covid-19 cases again surging in the US because of the omicron variant, President Joe Biden unveiled new plans to increase support for hospitals, improving access to Covid-19 testing through hundreds of millions of rapid at-home tests and expanding the availability of vaccines that can reduce the risks from the Omicron variant. The president also appealed to the people to get vaccinated to protect themselves from the virus.
In an address at the White House, Biden said he was laying out how the federal government was “preparing for the rising number of cases experts tell us we can expect in the weeks ahead.” Most notably, the government plans to buy a half-billion at-home Covid test kits and mail them to people who want them, with deliveries beginning in January, Biden announced from the White House.
It’s a major step to tackling problems that Americans face in easily accessing free at-home Covid tests throughout the pandemic.