Where Is the Operation Warp Speed for Covid Testing?
An all-out effort paid off in developing vaccines, but America continues to lurch from one wave of the virus to another without a meaningful plan for ongoing surveillance.
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The U.S. is awash in vaccine doses, but the availability of tests has been a problem throughout the most intense surges of the Covid-19 crisis. That’s because while there was an Operation Warp Speed to create vaccines, there hasn’t been a comparable initiative for tests.
In response to the omicron wave, the administration of President Joe Biden has stepped up its investments in testing. It promised to give Americans 1 billion free rapid kits starting in January—you may have already signed up to have yours delivered by the U.S. Postal Service—and recently unveiled a policy requiring private health insurers to reimburse up to eight tests per person a month.