White House Unveils ‘National Covid-19 Preparedness Plan’

Yesterday, the White House unveiled a plan to move the nation to a new stage of the pandemic and prepare the nation for any new variants that may emerge. The national Covid-19 preparedness plan will require additional funding from Congress but is focused on spending for Covid-19 treatments, preparing for new variants, keeping schools and businesses open and continuing to vaccinate the nation and the world. A big part of the plan includes a new ‘Test to Treat’ initiative in which Americans would be able to get tested for Covid-19 at a pharmacy and receive free antiviral pills ‘on the spot’ if they are positive. At-home Covid-19 tests and high-quality masks will also become available beginning next week. The administration will also be launching a website to help Americans locate vaccines and masks at pharmacies, grocery stores and community health centers across the nation. According to Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, the administration has already distributed more than 270 million N95 masks to local pharmacies and health centers and 70 million households have received rapid at-home Covid-19 tests.