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Biden Promises 500 Million COVID-19 Tests As Omicron Threatens To Overwhelm US Health Care System

The “President’s Winter Plan” to fight the new variant includes mailing out free COVID-19 take-home tests to Americans who ask for it. AdvaMed says it will encourage manufacturers to keep producing tests.

US President Joe Biden met with members of the COVID-19 Response Team to discuss the Omicron variant at the White House on 16 December, 2021
US President Joe Biden met with members of the COVID-19 Response Team to discuss the Omicron variant at the White House on 16 December, 2021 • Source: Alamy

US President Joe Biden announced that his administration will mail out up to 500 million free take-home COVID-19 rapid tests to any American who asks for it to quell what is feared to be an avalanche of cases of the Omicron SARS-CoV-2 variant over the next few months.

The Omicron variant of the COVID-19 virus has global public health officials on edge. While initial data shows it may not be as deadly as previous versions of the virus,...

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