WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is once again making some free COVID-19 tests available to all U.S. households as it unveils its contingency plans for potential coronavirus spikes this winter.
After a three-month hiatus, the administration is making four rapid virus tests available through covidtests.gov starting Thursday, a senior administration official said. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the program. Cases of COVID-19 have shown a significant increase since the Thanksgiving holiday, and further increases are expected from indoor gatherings and travel around Christmas and New Year.
The administration is putting staff and equipment on standby in case they are needed to help overwhelmed hospitals and nursing homes, as was needed in previous waves of the virus. So far, there have been no calls for assistance, but emergency crews, ventilators and personal protective equipment are ready, the official said.
The Biden administration is also urging state and local governments to do more to encourage people to get up-to-date bivalent COVID-19 vaccines, which scientists say are more effective at protecting against serious illness and death from the variants currently circulating. The administration is reaffirming best practices for nursing homes and long-term care facilities to prevent and treat the virus, and is urging administrators and governments to encourage vulnerable populations to receive the new vaccines.
The planning comes as the administration has struggled to convince more Americans to get enhanced boosters as cases and deaths have declined since the peaks of the pandemic and most people have returned to most of their pre-pandemic activities.
The official said funds for the new tests have been reallocated from other antivirus programs as the White House struggles to get congressional approval for more emergency funding for COVID-19. The official declined to detail how much is being spent on the new tests or what programs they were diverted from.
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