President preaches concern, not panic © Associated Press/Patrick Semansky President Biden on Tuesday sought to strike a balance between reassuring Americans about the coming wave of omicron infections, but also to once again try to persuade the public to take precautions. During remarks at the White House, Biden outlined a plan to increase testing, speed up the vaccination campaign and boost the capacity of hospitals that could be inundated in the coming weeks. He made it clear that although infections are rising, the nation is in a far different place than it was last year. “We should all be concerned about omicron, but not panicked,” Biden said, emphasizing that vaccinated individuals, especially those with a booster shot, are “highly protected” against the virus. But he also acknowledged that many will still get infected with relatively mild symptoms, and people should expect cases to rise. "We'll see some vaccinated people get COVID, potentially large numbers," Biden said. The plan: Biden announced that the U.S. will stand up new federal testing sites around the country, helping states that need additional testing capacity. The first will be set up in New York City this week. He also announced that the administration plans to purchase 500 million rapid COVID-19 tests to distribute for free to any American who wants one. But the tests won't even start becoming available until January, and administration officials said they're still working out details, including finalizing the design of the website where the tests can be ordered. The White House will also be ready to send 1,000 medical military personnel to hospitals that need help as they struggle with staffing shortages and influx of unvaccinated COVID patients. Why it's important: Rapid tests are in short supply right now amid the demand surge. At the same time, turnaround times for lab-based tests are growing and people are waiting hours in long lines for testing centers. Read more here. |
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