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COVID-19 Federal Responses: Thursday, January 13, 2022

COVID-19 Federal Responses: Thursday, January 13, 2022
  • The National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Director Dr. Anthony Fauci predicts that “just about everybody” will be infected with COVID-19 due to the Omicron variant.
  • The Biden Administration increased its order for at-home COVID-19 tests from 500 million to 1 billion tests.
  • The Biden Administration announced it is planning to distribute N-95 or KN95s masks to all Americans as soon as next week.
  • The Biden Administration announced a plan to increase the supply of COVID-19 testing to public schools across the country. The plan would distribute 10 million tests, including 5 million PCR tests and 5 million rapid antigen tests.
  • The Biden Administration released guidance requiring private insurers to reimburse beneficiaries for up to eight at-home COVID-19 tests per month.

Congress

  • Democrats in the House of Representatives introduced bills to distribute N95 masks and rapid tests to all Americans.
  • During a Senate HELP Committee hearing on new COVID-19 variants, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky was questioned on the Biden Administration’s long-term and short-term plans for combating the pandemic.
  • Democrats in Congress are calling on the CDC to use stricter and clearer language in its public health guidance and recommendations.
  • The Senate HELP Committee voted to advance the nomination of Robert Califf for Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner to the full Senate.

White House and Federal Agencies

  • The Biden Administration increased its order for at-home COVID-19 tests from 500 million to 1 billion tests.
  • President Biden announced the deployment of 1,000 military medical personnel to hospitals in New York, New Jersey, Ohio, Rhode Island, Michigan, and New Mexico that are facing staffing shortages amidst record hospitalizations.
  • The Biden Administration announced it is planning to distribute N95 or KN95 masks to all Americans as soon as next week.

Economy, Vaccines, Testing and Treatment

  • The U.S. Supreme Court issued rulings on challenges to the injunctions that temporarily prohibit the Federal government from enforcing its two vaccine mandates. The Supreme Court upheld a lower court’s injunction on the OSHA vaccine mandate targeting private employers but permitted the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) vaccine mandate targeting healthcare providers to continue in states that are not challenging the mandate in court.
  • The Biden Administration announced a plan to increase the supply of COVID-19 tests to public schools across the country.
    • The plan would distribute 10 million tests, including 5 million PCR tests and 5 million rapid antigen tests.
  • The Biden Administration released guidance requiring private insurers to reimburse beneficiaries for up to eight at-home COVID-19 tests per month.
    • Private insurers will have the ability to arrange programs at preferred retailers and a family of four would be eligible for 32 home tests each month.
  • The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Director Dr. Anthony Fauci predicts that “just about everybody” will be infected with COVID-19 due to the Omicron variant.
  • Inflation has reached its highest point since 1982. Consumer prices increased 7% in 2021. The number of new unemployment claims also increased last week.

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