The US President says more federal vaccination and testing sites will open to tackle a surge in COVID-19 cases sparked by the Omicron variant.
US President Joe Biden says more federal vaccination and testing sites will open to tackle a surge in COVID-19 cases sparked by the Omicron variant, announcing some 500 million at-home rapid tests will be available to Americans for free starting in January.
Mr Biden offered both a warning to the unvaccinated, who he said have "good reason to be concerned," and reassurance that those who are inoculated can gather for the holidays despite the new variant sweeping the country."Two hundred million people are fully vaccinated, we're prepared, we know more." Striking a more dire tone about the risks to the one-in-four American adults who are not fully vaccinated, Mr Biden said those who are unvaccinated "have a significantly higher risk of ending up in the hospital or even dying".
The measures announced on Tuesday local time include activating some 1,000 military medical personnel to support hospitals already being overwhelmed by COVID-19 patients in some areas.Mr Biden's COVID-19 response has been criticised for focusing on vaccines at the detriment of testing and masking, and for underestimating the impact of the politically motivated anti-vaccine movement in the United States.
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