Hospitals will get staff reinforcements, Federal Emergency Management Agency aid and additional personal protective equipment to help fight the latest COVID-19 wave under an expanded pandemic response strategy the White House unveiled Tuesday.
An additional 1,000 military doctors, nurses, paramedics and other personnel will be deployed to hospitals in January and February as needed, according to a fact sheet. The federal government will dispatch emergency response teams first to Arizona, Indiana, Michigan, New Hampshire, Vermont and Wisconsin.
President Joe Biden will outline the latest steps to combat the pandemic in a speech Tuesday.
FEMA will work with states and territories to determine what hospitals need and to expand bed capacity. The agency can deploy and finance ambulances and emergency medical teams to help transport patients to alternate facilities when other hospitals fill up.
Federal authorities have stockpiled N95 masks, gloves, gowns and ventilators across the country so they can be quickly delivered when necessary.
This latest plan, an extension of Biden’s winter strategy, comes as the omicron variant emerges as the country’s dominant COVID-19 strand. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, omicron likely spreads faster than other variants, but it’s still unclear whether it causes more or less severe illnesses. The CDC recommends all eligible people get vaccinated and receive booster shots.
Biden also plans to deliver free at-home rapid tests on request and will set up a website where U.S. residents can order kits. Federal authorities also will set up new testing sites, starting in New York, where the virus has surged in recent days. The administration will invoke the Defense Production Act to bolster testing supplies.
FEMA plans to set up temporary vaccination clinics, including mobile units. The Health and Human Services Department will allow pharmacists and pharmacy interns to administer a wider set of vaccines across state lines, and pharmacy capacity will be increased.