Posted on Dec. 2021 at 6:55
The United States, so proud of its vaccination plan and its testing capacity, will have to question itself. Several states are starting to report shortages of Covid testing at a critical time as the number of cases skyrockets and the Omicron variant threatens and now accounts for 73% of new cases in the country.
A few days before the end of the year holidays, which could lead to a new wave, Anthony Fauci, Joe Biden’s main advisor on the pandemic, has recognized the shortages. But he also said that, within one to three weeks, the situation should improve on this front. “What the government has done, and what you’re going to start to see the result of, is billions of dollars of investment to go from 200 million to 500 million tests available per month,” he said. last weekend in an interview with ABC. These tests will be “for the most part free”, he assured.
In New York, the queues have multiplied in recent days in front of the test centers. It is no longer rare to stand in line an hour or two before being screened, like last winter. A real turnaround, when it had become very easy to get tested for several months, without even making an appointment.
Increased demand
Mayor Bill de Blasio has asked the federal government for additional help, citing the Defense Production Act – a law usually activated during wartime – to increase testing and processing capacity. An outgoing mayor himself pointed the finger at, while he closed about twenty sites just before the appearance of the new variant. “We didn’t expect Omicron to spread so quickly. It is up to us to bounce back quickly, to make the adjustments and to put the staff where they need to be, ”he explained.
The demand for the tests had indeed fallen in the United States but it has skyrocketed in recent days, under the effect of several factors. Many Americans have decided to get tested first before joining their families for the holidays. Many countries also require a negative test, even for people who have been vaccinated, to be able to enter their territory.
Schools also continue to consume a lot of tests, with some establishments requiring their students to be tested twice a week to access face-to-face lessons. And the next decree on companies, which must be applied from January 4, is also soaring demand. This decree was confirmed by a court of appeal last week: companies with more than 100 employees will have to require their employees to be vaccinated, or they will have to be tested at least once a week.
A strategy undermined
When he entered the White House, Joe Biden promised to make testing accessible to everyone, everywhere. Today, only a dozen companies market home screening kits (half as much as in Europe) and they are expensive: 25 dollars on average (and not reimbursed by health insurance), when they are available for less than 5 euros in France.
The US government is paying for its strategy in this area. He had decided to invest heavily in vaccines by abandoning tests. These are not subsidized, unlike other countries. And the envelopes released this fall for the purchase of tests, totaling $ 3 billion, arrived too late to cope with the influx of recent days. The country is once again running behind the virus. Faced with the gravity of the situation, Joe Biden must make new announcements on Tuesday.
–
