COVID-19 | Dr. Fowzie said the shortage of tests for Americans will be addressed

“It simply came to our notice then [les tests] It will not be fully available to everyone until January, ”the epidemiologist told the ABC channel.

“But we are resolving the testing issue and it will be resolved very soon,” he continued, acknowledging his frustration with the shortage.

During the year-end family vacation, the United States experienced a real rush on exams, especially on kits to test at home.

At the same time, according to CDC data, the number of COVID-19 cases continues to rise significantly due to the prevalence of the Omicron variant, with an average of 175,000 new cases being reported per day on Sunday, according to CDC data. , The main federal public health agency.

According to D, these coordination events are partly responsible for this “high demand”, resulting in a shortage of tests.^R “We clearly need to do better,” Fauzi said.

President Joe Biden announced last week that the federal government would announce massive purchases of the exams: 500 million kits, which will be distributed free of charge to anyone who requests them.

But these tests will not be delivered until January, which will fuel strong criticism of the White House, whose strategy has focused primarily on the vaccine for weeks to fight COVID-19.

U.S. executive spokeswoman Jen Psaki was questioned about the difficulty in accessing tests in the country on December 6, just days after Omicron was first discovered in the United States.

She just ironed out, “We should send a free test to all Americans, right?” ”

D^R Fauzi also talked about the Omicron variant and its harmlessness.

Recognizing how “extraordinarily contagious” Omicron is, he welcomed data from studies in South Africa and the United Kingdom, which indicate a lower risk of cases.

“It’s a problem we don’t want to be complacent about […] When you have a new size of infection, it goes beyond the actual reduction of the risk, ”he warned, fearing congestion in the hospital system.