Dealing with winter and the Omicron variant, without further tensing an American population weary of the pandemic and less and less convinced by its health management: this is the difficult equation that Joe Biden is trying to solve by presenting a new plan on Thursday fight against Covid-19. The White House unveiled a series of initiatives in a document which, however, contains no spectacular announcements, and above all no new measures of a binding nature for American citizens.
No question of imposing a quarantine on arrivals
The Biden administration is relying more on strengthening already existing arrangements. Perhaps the most salient point of the measures announced on Thursday is the strengthening of the requirements for international travelers: from “the beginning of next week”, they will have, in addition to being vaccinated, to present a negative test carried out in the day before departure. Until now, the test could be carried out within three days before flight.
A senior White House official, however, clarified that there was no question for the moment of imposing a quarantine on arrivals, information which had circulated in the press. Domestic flights remain exempt from these health requirements for the moment. Inside the borders, the Biden administration extends until March 18 the obligation to wear the mask in public transport, which was to expire on January 18.
Reinforcement of screening
The White House is also announcing measures to increase screening: tests carried out at home will be reimbursed by private health insurance, and the number of tests distributed free of charge will be doubled to 50 million. But the big stake remains to develop the vaccination for Joe Biden, who had promised before his election to stem the pandemic, and to whom he was widely criticized for having proclaimed victory prematurely in early July, just before the Delta variant struck. the country.
While less than 60% of Americans of all ages are fully immunized, the White House must convince those who are not to take the plunge, but also persuade those who are to receive a booster dose, while encouraging parents to have their children vaccinated from the age of 5. This while vaccination, and more broadly all the restrictive health measures taken in the face of Covid-19, are the subject of sometimes extremely virulent criticism in the conservative camp.
Face “all scenarios”
Joe Biden wants to start “hundreds” of “family” vaccination clinics, in which children can be vaccinated while their parents and grandparents receive their booster doses. While the United States confirmed Wednesday that a first case of the new Omicron variant had been detected on American soil, the White House assures that measures are taken to deal with “all scenarios”.
“The President is committed to using all government resources to ensure that we will have prompt access to updated vaccines and boosters for US citizens in the unlikely event that it is necessary to combat the Omicron variant.” , according to his administration. The political stake is immense for the Democrat, with approximately one year of legislative elections of mid-term.
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