The first of some 500 million COVID-19 tests promised by the federal government should arrive later this month, though that may not be soon enough for those waiting in long lines at existing test sites.
“We’re on track to start seeing movement on some of the awards through the [request for proposals] this week,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Tuesday afternoon. “The first delivery from manufacturers will start later this month. That’s our expectation.”
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Psaki added that once the tests arrive, the Biden administration will set up a website and make tests available to order. Starting next week, people can also be reimbursed by their insurance company for the cost of tests, the supply of which has not kept up with soaring demand.
Reporters peppered Biden’s top spokeswoman with questions about the disease during Tuesday’s briefing, with 13 of the first 16 inquiries relating to COVID-19 one way or another.
One reporter asked if President Joe Biden was beginning to acknowledge that vaccines no longer protect the public from getting infected with the virus, only preventing hospitalization or death.
“The step that’s most important that people can take to reduce the potential for hospitalization and death is to get vaccinated, get boosted,” Psaki responded. “He’s not telling anyone to accept anything. He’s just conveying to people what they can do to protect themselves.”
Another reporter asked why the definition of fully vaccinated hasn’t been changed to include booster shots and why the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention hadn’t issued clearer testing guidance to those coming out of isolation after a case. Psaki said that both decisions are up to the CDC.
While acknowledging a steep rise in cases, the White House has tried to convey a sense of progress fighting the two-year-old disease. More than 200 million have been vaccinated, Psaki pointed out, shots and boosters are available for anyone who wants one, 500 million tests are on their way, and 97% of schools remain open, a decision Biden supports.
Nonetheless, reaction to the latest wave of cases has varied widely in different parts of the country. Whereas some big-city school systems have closed, Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo has said it’s time to “unwind the testing psychology” of the federal government and “this preoccupation that only COVID is determining the boundaries and constraints and possibilities of life.”
In contrast, Ladapo wants to prioritize “high value” testing for vulnerable people that could change outcomes, with fewer tests for those who are at low risk from the disease.
When asked about Lapado’s comments, a smiling Psaki pointed back to advice from the White House and CDC.
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“I would really point to our own health and medical experts on when tests should be administered and utilized,” she said. “Our focus is on making [tests] more available, accessible, and free to the public.”
