Addressing the public Tuesday, President Joe Biden blamed the Covid-19 test shortage on the rapid ascent of the Omicron variant, which emerged in South Africa just after Thanksgiving and has since swept the nation with astounding speed.
A number of reporters relayed the concerns of citizens who have been unable to obtain Covid-19 tests due to insufficient inventory ahead of Christmas.
“What’s your message to Americans who are trying to get tested now and who are not able to get tested and who are wondering what took so long to ramp up testing?” a reporter asked the president.
Biden replied: “C’mon, what took so long? What took so long is it didn’t take long at all. What happened was the Omicron virus spread more rapidly than anybody thought. If I had told you four weeks ago that this would spread on a day-to-day basis by 50 percent, 100 percent, 500 percent, I think you would have looked at me and said ‘Biden what are you drinking?'”
Biden assured the public that the surge sweeping the nation does not mean the U.S. has reverted back to the dire situation of March 2020, when the original strain of the virus emerged.
“No, this is not March of 2020. 200 million people are fully vaccinated. We’re prepared. We know more. We just have to stay focused,” he said.
He noted that the government has deployed a huge amount of man power, such as National Guard troops, and material and financial resources amid the spike. Biden confirmed that the government has invested generous funds to provide Americans with more at-home tests and well as to install more vaccination and testing sites across cities and localities
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