[ad_1]
Vice President Kamala Harris couldn’t definitively say Thursday when 500 million at-home COVID-19 tests promised by the Biden administration can be shipped out to American households — greater than three weeks after the initiative was introduced by President Biden.
“They’ve been ordered. They’ve been ordered,” Harris advised NBC’s “Today” present.
“I’ve to have a look at the present data,” the veep added. “I feel it’s going to be by subsequent week. However quickly, completely quickly. And it’s a matter of urgency for us.”
When requested by interviewer Craig Melvin if the sluggish rollout ought to have occurred sooner, Harris snapped: “We’re doing it.”
The Biden administration has so far failed to offer a set timeline for when Individuals may be capable to get their fingers on the thousands and thousands of at-home fast exams amid the continuing Omicron surge.
Although the weeks-old plan has but to be absolutely rolled out, the White Home on Wednesday promised to provide 10 million more COVID-19 tests per month to schools.
That plan includes distributing 5 million fast exams to varsities and making a further 5 million PCR exams out there through a Division of Well being and Human Providers program.
Daybreak O’Connell, assistant secretary for preparedness and response on the Division of Well being and Human Providers, revealed earlier this week that the administration had contracted for simply 50 million take a look at kits thus far out of the five hundred million.
“We anticipate the primary exams going out on the finish of this month with the remaining exams going out over the subsequent 60 days,” O’Connell advised lawmakers throughout a Senate listening to.
The administration nonetheless hasn’t launched an internet site for individuals to request the fast exams — and it isn’t clear that the exams will attain Individuals earlier than the variety of Omicron infections hit their peak.
The present seven-day day by day common of COVID-19 circumstances within the US has now surged to 751,000.
[ad_2]
Source link