There has been a growing concern about a new Covid-19 variant as we head into the winter months. On Thursday, President Joe Biden announced his winter coronavirus strategy, which includes distribution of free at-home rapid tests, mask requirements on public transit and strict testing protocols for all international travelers.
More than 150 million Americans who hold private insurance will be able to be reimbursed by their insurance companies the same way their insurance companies will cover for their tests at testing sites.
In addition, the Biden administration will distribute 50 million at-home tests to 20,000 federal sites so that people with Medicare or Medicaid will be able to access them for free.
Administration officials said they would ramp up the production of rapid tests to ensure there is an adequate supply to meet the demand of Americans.
As they stated:
"Supply will quadruple this month from where it was at the end of summer, so we're doing a ton to ramp up all tests, but specifically a big focus on ramping up these at-home tests," a senior administration official said on a call with reporters Wednesday night.
President Biden also extended the mask mandates until March 18 for all public transportation such as airplanes and buses. There will also be tighter travel requirements in the United States. In addition, he rolled out new guidelines for traveling- passengers would have to present proof of negative Covid test within one day of travel to the U.S. whether they're vaccinated or not.
Experts also urge people to take booster shots for added protection amid the spread of the omicron variant.
Biden administration will expand the public education and outreach efforts by setting up family vaccination clinics, which will serve as a one-stop shop for adult and kids vaccines as well as booster shots.
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