Biden’s new Covid plan: more boosters, free home testing, and ‘monoclonal antibody strike teams’

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden will announce a new plan this afternoon for combating the Omicron variant of the coronavirus. The plan includes a new campaign to increase uptake of booster shots, new policies meant to provide Americans with free at-home coronavirus tests, and more stringent policies on international travel.

Public health officials still don’t know much about the Omicron variant, including whether it causes milder symptoms than other forms of the coronavirus, or whether it is more transmissible than other variants.  The first case of the Omicron variant detected in the United States was announced by U.S. health officials on Wednesday Dec. 1.

Biden’s new plan focuses largely on speeding up the slow uptake of booster shots in the U.S., particularly among seniors. It will include new public relations campaigns from the Department of Health and Human Services and from AARP, the interest group for Americans over age 50, to push booster shots.

The push comes on the heels of a Nov. 29 announcement from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that it is now recommending all adults get boosted six months after receiving their second shot of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines or two months after receiving a shot of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

 
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Πηγή: statnews.com