White House To Order 500 Million Additional Covid-19 Tests And Plans To Make Higher-Quality Masks Available

Topline

President Joe Biden said Thursday his administration will make higher-quality masks available to Americans for free next week, and announced a new order of 500 million Covid-19 tests to be distributed for free—the latest actions from the administration to attempt to curb the spread of the highly-transmissible omicron variant.

Key Facts

Biden said the federal government will announce plans next week to distribute higher-quality masks for free.

He is also “directing his team to procure 500 million more tests” to meet future demand, a White House official told Reuters, who first reported the news.

The additional tests will be ordered once the administration has received the first 500 million they’ve ordered, CNN reports.

Vice President Kamala Harris said the first 500 million tests could be available as soon as next week during an interview Thursday on the Today show.

The new order will make a total of 1 billion tests available to Americans for free once they are ordered and acquired.

What To Watch For

The Biden Administration said it will launch a website where Americans can sign up for at-home tests for free, which will be delivered by mail, later this month.

Chief Critic

Biden has come under fire from lawmakers and health experts for not making testing more widely available and for not doing enough to help the shortage of tests. After Biden announced the first order of 500 million tests in December, some experts said the action would not come fast enough to prevent the spread of omicron. Anne Rimoin, a UCLA professor of epidemiology, told Reuters the U.S. was “woefully” behind on testing. “Unfortunately, it’s late in coming and will be a small drop in the bucket compared to the tsunami of cases on the horizon,” Rimoin said after the first order was announced.

Key Background

The omicron variant has led to the highest number of Covid cases ever reported in the U.S., with new cases reaching over 1.3 million on Monday, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Hospitalizations have also reached peak numbers in the country, with over 155,000 people admitted to the hospital for Covid-19, according to the Department of Human and Health Services.

Further Reading

Exclusive: Biden directs U.S. to procure 500 million more COVID tests to meet demand (Reuters)

Biden Announces Free At-Home Covid Test Kits Soon Available (Forbes)

Biden Requires Insurance Companies To Cover Free At-Home Covid Tests Starting This Weekend (Forbes)

US Covid Hospitalizations Set New Record — Especially In These States (Forbes)