The query individuals are asking proper now isn’t whether or not Santa has them on the naughty or good listing, however the place the #$@!% are all of the COVID-19 exams.
Because the omicron variant sparks file case numbers in some areas of the nation, Individuals want these exams to do every thing from fly house for the vacations to attend faculty, however the exams are briefly provide. The result’s traces across the block at skilled testing websites and the hoarding of at-home check kits bought on-line and at brick-and-mortar shops. There are even reviews of individuals staking out retail pharmacies to attend for supply vans to carry new batches.
How is that this taking place 21 months into a worldwide pandemic? Why weren’t we higher ready for a winter surge many consultants noticed coming?
The reply comes down to 2 elements converging at a really inconvenient time. First, the availability chain, already slowed down, was additional pressured by the massive demand for exams. Second is the fast emergence of the omicron variant after many individuals thought the worst of the delta wave was over due to vaccinations, booster photographs, and mask-wearing.
Tied into that are bulk consumers of those exams, resembling corporations that require testing for his or her workers, and the very fact that producers can’t simply begin making and promoting them, like they might, say, a fabric face masks. The Meals and Drug Administration (FDA) should approve testing merchandise earlier than they are often legally bought.
And never that way back, individuals weren’t so : The main U.S. producer of these now-precious exams, Abbott Laboratories, even threw exams out this summer season after demand dipped, based on the New York Times.
In a speech Tuesday, President Joe Biden stated the federal authorities would buy 500 million extra at-home fast exams, with deliveries beginning subsequent month. “And we’re going to proceed to make use of the Protection Manufacturing Act as we did earlier this month to verify we’re producing as many exams and as rapidly as potential,” he added.
Many areas, together with hard-hit New York Metropolis, have online portals the place you’ll be able to seek for the testing location nearest you. Sadly, excessive demand for testing has stretched them to their limits. CityMD, a series of walk-in clinics, announced on Wednesday that it might be quickly closing a number of places in New York Metropolis and New Jersey as a way to guarantee that it will possibly meet staffing wants.
