More Covid-19 tests, vaccinations, help for hospitals but no lockdowns: Biden

WASHINGTON - The United States will step up efforts to get more people vaccinated against the coronavirus, opting for more testing and boosting hospital capacity instead of lockdowns, as the Omicron variant fuels a rise in cases across the country.

President Joe Biden on Tuesday (Dec 21) laid out his administration's steps to fight the Omicron variant, which he said had spread more rapidly than anticipated.

The rise of the Omicron variant, which now accounts for three-quarters of new Covid-19 infections in the US, comes as Americans head home for the holidays.

Long lines have been reported at local testing sites and pharmacies ran out of at-home tests this week, as people scrambled to get tested after coming into contact with positive cases or before meeting loved ones for Christmas.

Noting this "big, big rush to the counter", Mr Biden acknowledged that the US was not where it should be with testing, and announced that more emergency testing sites will be set up beginning this week.

His administration will also buy 500 million at-home tests and deliver them to Americans for free from next month (Jan 2022), with a website to be set up to allow people to request the tests.

Mr Biden will continue to use the Defence Production Act to ramp up manufacturing.

Public health experts such as Dr Eric Topol of the Scripps Research Translational Institute said on Twitter that the 500 million tests were a start, but that billions were needed to help prevent the coronavirus' spread.

And given that they will be mailed out only from the beginning of next month, they will likely be too late to slow the Omicron wave, which has multiplied rapidly in the past week.

Private insurance will also cover at-home testing starting from next month, allowing people to get reimbursed when they order a test online.

Hospitals will get help, with the Pentagon readying 1,000 military medical personnel to be deployed to hospitals next month, on top of 300 federal staff already on the ground.

Hundreds of ambulances and emergency medical teams will also be deployed to transport patients to open beds.

Mr Biden's strongest words were for those reluctant to get shots and resistant to vaccination rules. The unvaccinated, he said, had a "significantly higher risk of ending up in the hospital and even dying".

"The unvaccinated are responsible for their own choices. But those choices have been fuelled by dangerous misinformation on cable TV and social media," said Mr Biden.

Accusing them of making money by peddling lies, he said: "It's wrong. It's immoral. I call on the purveyors of these lies and misinformation to stop it."

More vaccination sites will open in January and more vaccinators will be deployed to get shots in people's arms, said Mr Biden.

But schools and businesses will stay open, said Mr Biden, who has been pushing for vaccine mandates, some of which have been embroiled in legal challenges.

A federal court on Monday reinstated his administration's rule that businesses with more than 100 employees must require them to be vaccinated or regularly tested, which Republican states and businesses are challenging.

"I know vaccination requirements are unpopular," said Mr Biden. "My administration has put them in place not to control your life, but to save your life."

The President's speech was a pep talk of sorts for a weary and divided public struggling with Covid-19 fatigue, as he reassured them that the US was in a better position than in March 2020 when coronavirus cases first began surging.

"I know you're tired and frustrated. We all want this to end, but we're still in it," said Mr Biden, adding: "But we also have more tools than we've ever had before."