White House winter COVID-19 strategy includes response teams, free home tests

President Biden today announced his plan for responding to COVID-19 surges and the new omicron variant this winter. Among other actions, the strategy includes:

• deploying Department of Defense and National Disaster Medical System teams to states to support clinical staffing at strained hospitals, and strike teams to help states administer monoclonal antibody treatments;
• providing $20 million in funding from the American Rescue Plan Act to bring additional Medical Reserve Corps volunteers to areas with rising COVID-19 cases;
• making free at-home tests for COVID-19 available through private health plans, federal health centers and rural health clinics;
• securing additional antiviral pills for use once authorized;
• launching a federal advertising campaign and family vaccination clinics to encourage all eligible adults to get boosters and children to get vaccinated;
• working with authorized vaccine makers to develop contingency plans for other vaccines or boosters for the omicron variant if needed; and accelerating the delivery of COVID-19 vaccines to other countries.

In other news, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention yesterday released recommendations to help laboratories and clinicians detect the omicron variant and prevent it from spreading.