![]() ![]() Some Republicans accused the White House of telling unvaccinated Americans they "deserve to die".īut Ron Klain, Mr Biden's chief of staff, said: "The truth is the truth." Over the last week the president and his officials have repeatedly said that the unvaccinated are "looking at a winter of severe illness and death for themselves, their families, and the hospitals they’ll soon overwhelm." Mr Biden has toughened his message to the 40 million American adults who are eligible for vaccines but have not yet had them. The White House said it was working with Google to improve results when Americans search for "free COVID test near me." New government testing sites will be set up across the country with several in place in New York before Christmas. The Federal Emergency Management Agency will have hundreds of ambulances and teams of paramedics ready to transport patients between hospitals if necessary.Įxtra ambulances have already been sent to the states of New York and Maine. ![]() Mr Biden's plan includes preparing additional ventilators and protective equipment from the national stockpile for deployment to hospitals that need extra capacity. The government is already sending emergency teams to Michigan, Indiana, Wisconsin, Arizona, New Hampshire and Vermont. Mr Biden's plan to tackle the omicron variant also includes ordering his defence secretary Lloyd Austin, to mobilise 1,000 doctors, nurses and other military medical personnel to be deployed to hospitals where they are needed across the country in the new year. The US would need to provide 2.3 billion tests per month for everyone aged over 12 to test twice a week. Ms Psaki responded, sarcastically, saying: "Should we just send one to every American?" She added: "How much will it cost?" On Dec 6 Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, was asked: "Why not just make them free and give them out, and have them available everywhere?" Previously, the Biden administration had been asking Americans to buy tests, costing $25 for two kits, and then arrange to get reimbursed through their private health insurance plans.Īfter more than a year of urging by public health experts Mr Biden's government has now arranged to purchase 500 million tests.Ī website will be set up for people to order them, and they will be sent at no charge.Īs recently as two weeks ago the White House was still refusing to provide free tests. His new plan means that in January, for the first time, the US government will be sending free coronavirus tests to Americans at home. Mr Biden has been heavily criticised by public health officials for not previously following countries including the UK and Germany in providing free at-home rapid tests kits. "We should take omicron seriously but this is a cause for concern, not a cause for panic." ![]() We're prepared for what we think will be an increase in unvaccinated hospitalisations in the coming months. Mr Biden decided against imposing restrictions on domestic flights, meaning Americans can travel to spend Christmas with their families.Ī senior administration official said: "We have the tools to get through this wave. ![]() Joe Biden launched America's plan to combat omicron which will include handing out 500 million free Covid-19 tests, deploying hundreds of military medical personnel to hospitals, and setting up government testing sites. ![]()
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