U.S. President Joe Biden announced, on Tuesday, that some 500 million at-home rapid tests will be available to Americans for free starting in January.
Biden also announced the opening of more federal vaccination and testing sites in order to tackle a surge in COVID-19 cases sparked by the new Omicron variant.
In the same vein, Biden warned the unvaccinated, who claimed they have "good reason to be concerned," and assured those who are inoculated can gather for the holidays despite the new variant sweeping the country.
"No this is not March of 2020," he told reporters at the White House. "Two hundred million people are fully vaccinated, we're prepared, we know more."
Moreover, the president said those who still have not been vaccinated "have a significantly higher risk of ending up in the hospital or even dying."
In this manner, the announced measures include activating some 1,000 military medical personnel to support hospitals already being overwhelmed by COVID patients in some areas.
The administration's COVID-19 response has been criticized for focusing on vaccines at the detriment of testing and masking but underestimating the impact of the politically motivated anti-vaccine movement in the United States.
The Omicron variant, first detected last month in South Africa, is causing infections to double in 1.5 to 3 days, according to the World Health Organization.
Omicron now accounts for 73% of all new cases, according to the latest U.S. data, up from less than 1% at the beginning of the month.
Follow the latest news on Google News
