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School closures, shutdowns in the rear view mirror, White House COVID-19 advisors say
One Biden Administration strategy involves treating COVID-19 patients with severe risks with antivirals, starting at the location of their positive test.
Atlanta - Saying the US has reached a "new moment" in the fight against COVID-19, the White House has released a new 96-page roadmap designed to push America beyond the crisis phase of the pandemic.
Jeff Zients, the White House coronavirus response coordinator, says business shutdowns and school closures are behind us, now that more than 200 million Americans are fully vaccinated, case counts are dropping, and there better treatments for those who do get infected.
"At the same time, I think it's important to note that there is more work ahead of us," Zients says. "We'll roll out vaccines for kids ages 2 to 5, if it's authorized by FDA and recommended by CDC. We'll launch the test to treat initiative, so people can get tested and treated for free in one stop. And, we'll create new stockpiles of tests, pills and masks, so we have the tools ready to deploy if we need them."
The "test to treat" strategy would allow Americans at risk of severe disease to get antiviral medications on the spot for free at certain pharmacies and clinics.
Under the initiative, they would not have to see a physician for a prescription for an antiviral, possibly losing critical time starting on the medication that needs to be initiated with 5 days of symptoms.
Xavier Becerra, the US Secretary of Health and Human Services, says access to treatments is a major focus.
"Tackling barriers to vaccinations, boosters and treatments remains a priority for us," Secretary Becerra says. "This includes making sure people can access these treatments for free, wherever you are, and even if you don't have health insurance."
The plan will require additional funding from Congress, and it is not clear how much the Biden Administration will be requesting.
The White House says Pfizer plans to deliver 1 million doses of its antiviral Paxlovid this month, and another 2 million doses in April.
Americans will also soon be able to order additional free at-home COVID-19 tests shipped directly to them.
The White House says the plan will provide support and guidance for schools and business to stay open and improve their ventilation systems.
CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky says the US is stepping up surveillance for emerging variants of the virus, with the goal of having treatments and vaccines developed and authorized within 100 days.
"We have great collaborations globally," Dr. Walensky says. "So that if a variant of concern were to emerge globally, we are in touch globally, and then we have all of the systems that we talked about: our wastewater system, syndromic system, our genomic surveillance system, and our enhanced genomic surveillance system, which is how we found a case of omicron within days of knowing that it existed in other countries. So, yes, we are confident. We continue to scale up these efforts and are grateful for the resources from Congress to be able to do so."
The US is averaging about 68,000 new infections a day, way down from the peak of the omicron surge.
"We are clearly going in the right direction, and with all the interventions that we have, I believe we are prepared for the possibly we will get another variant, with regard to vaccines, boosters, testing, good masks and antivirals," Dr. Anthony Fauci says.
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