WINTER WAVE

Biden to Promise Free At-Home Test Kits After Omicron Arrives in U.S.

A new pandemic plan is set to be unveiled hours after the first confirmed U.S. infection from the new Omicron variant.

The Biden administration is reportedly set to announce plans to make rapid, at-home COVID-19 testing free for more people to help deal with the growing possibility of a winter wave of the coronavirus pandemic. The Washington Post reports that Biden will announce a long list of new pandemic measures Thursday, hours after the first confirmed U.S. infection from the new Omicron variant was recorded in San Francisco. They will reportedly include a plan to reimburse Americans covered by private health insurance when they purchase at-home COVID-19 test kits, as well as a plan to launch “family mobile vaccination clinics” where all eligible members of a family can get their first shots or boosters at the same time. “We are pulling out all the stops to get people the maximum amount of protection as we head into winter months,” an unnamed administration official told reporters Wednesday. Biden will set out more details in a speech to the National Institutes of Health later Thursday.