The US begins the distribution of millions of masks and rapid tests before the advance of omicron

The president of the United States, Joe Biden, looks at his watch during the press conference on Wednesday, February 19. Oliver Contreras / POOL (EFE)

The Joe Biden government has redoubled its efforts this week to try to tackle the coronavirus crisis. The White House has launched the distribution of millions of antigen tests and N95 masks, which will begin to be delivered free of charge throughout the country starting next week. The ambitious deployment coincides with the president's first year at the helm of the country and adds to a series of measures with which the Democrat wants to reverse criticism of the management of the pandemic. The coronavirus has claimed the lives of almost 860,000 Americans and the advance of the omicron variant has increased hospital admissions in recent weeks. There are 159,000 people in hospitals today, a new record.

Washington announced this Wednesday that it will make 400 million N95 masks available to the public, which typically cost between one and two dollars. These will be distributed to 19,000 pharmacies of the CVS and Walgreens chains, as well as community health centers, for collection starting next week with a limit of three masks per person. The increase in cases has also brought a sharp increase in the demand for this type of mask, one of the most efficient to slow down the rate of infection, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The authorities have tried to convey calm and dispel fears due to the lack of supply in a country with 329 million inhabitants. Until the middle of last December, the country had 747 million masks in its hands, a number 59 times higher than the reserve it had before the pandemic times. The 3M company, the main manufacturer of these types of accessories, has said that it has the capacity to make 2,000 million each year in its plants in South Dakota, Nebraska and in other parts of the world. A spokeswoman recently assured that both the federal and local governments "have hundreds of millions of masks in their hands" and that these can be replenished when needed.

The Democratic Government also recently enabled a website, covidtests.gov, for millions of Americans to request and receive at home one of the 500 million rapid tests to detect the virus.

"This historic plan builds on the significant and aggressive actions the Administration has taken since its inception to expand testing capacity," a White House spokesman said a few days ago.

Achieving that number of available tests required the FDA, the office in charge of validating foods and medicines, to increase the number of tests authorized for use in the country.

It also required a $3 billion investment to manufacture 420 million tests.

These, along with the "tens of millions" that the Executive has in his power, are part of the reserve.

The program, explained the White House, limits the number of tests that each address can receive to four.

"These will arrive between 7 and 12 days after being ordered," he added, explaining that the packages will be stamped as priority mail.

Those who wish to receive them only have to enter their name, postal address and email on the aforementioned page.

The initiative aims to take pressure off the 20,000 free testing sites across the country.

Many have been overwhelmed in recent weeks due to the increase in positive cases.

In addition, the US government has required insurance companies to cover the cost of up to eight monthly tests purchased at home by users who already have symptoms or who do not want to wait seven days to perform the first nasal scraping since mid-January.

“It has been too much to bear,” Biden said this Wednesday about the wear and tear that the pandemic has on Americans. In a press conference that coincided with his first anniversary at the White House, the president has said that his fight against the virus "is an incomplete job." This despite the fact that Biden himself decreed independence from the coronavirus on July 4 last.

"The situation will improve," the president promised this afternoon. The United States registers almost 21,000 daily admissions to hospitals, an increase of almost 25% compared to last week. Most of the new patients are not vaccinated, but the picture can be complicated thanks to the new, more contagious variant, which is already being blamed for the fact that the nation reports more than 700,000 new positives every day on average. Dr. Anthony Fauci said Wednesday that this new peak is likely to pass by mid-February.

Biden, who has a 40% approval rating, sees correcting the course of the pandemic as vital to the battle in November's midterm elections.

Republicans will use the coronavirus crisis as one of the arguments to regain control of Congress.

Polls have shown that the voters who made Biden win over Trump — white, suburban and college-educated — are among the disenchanted.

There is still time for the reconquest.

This seems to start with hundreds of millions of masks and tests.

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