March 30, 2022: President Joe Biden on Wednesday unveiled a federal program promising a “one-stop shop” for loose masks and COVID-19 testing, vaccinations and treatments.
The website, covid. gov, also includes a list of pharmacies that will be part of the new “test to treat” program.
“You will also need to locate our new control sites to deal with,” Biden said at a news conference. -Saving remedies in one stop. “
Shortly after his comments, he won a momentary booster of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine. The FDA and CDC on Tuesday approved the fourth dose of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines for Americans over 50 and others over 18 who meet express conditions.
For Americans who need a vaccine or booster, covid. passv provides a link to vaccines. passv, where you can stop by to locate a local vaccination center. redirected to covidtests. passv) and to locate loose masks, via a link to a CDC website.
You can search for covid. gov through address or zip code to locate nearby pharmacies, federally authorized network fitness centers, Indian fitness service sites, or veterans clinics (VAs) that offer testing for treatment.
During the pandemic, it’s been difficult to find a source to help navigate everything that may be needed to fight COVID, says Jen Kates, PhD, senior vice president and director of global fitness at the Kaiser Family Foundation.
Covid. gov “is a step forward in combining everything under one roof,” he says. A one-stop shop will “facilitate access”.
As states, counties and towns begin to close their own government-funded programs, it may become more important to be able to seamlessly locate sites for COVID-related facilities, Kates says.
Some states and localities have closed sites due to a decrease in demand and the number of cases. States also fear they won’t be able to continue if federal money to reimburse tests, vaccines and treatments runs out.
The White House warned that it is possible that the materials will be exhausted if it gets at least $22. 5 billion in an emergency budget to combat the pandemic. Congress has yet agreed on whether to approve or approve this request.
Meanwhile, the White House has cut monoclonal antibody shipments to states by a third, and Biden has said it will run out until the end of May.
The president also noted that the government may not have enough vaccines available this fall to give each and every American a momentary booster shot, though he said there were enough for those over 50 and immunocompromised.
“Congress, we want to secure more materials now,” Biden said. We can’t wait until we get in the middle of some other impulse to act. It will be too late.
The president announced the check initiative in his State of the Union address on March 2. The idea is that other people who test positive for COVID-19 at a pharmacy or fitness center will be eligible to receive, immediately and free of charge, one of two FDA-approved antiviral pills: Pfizer’s Paxlovid or Merck’s molnupiravir. Both can be taken within five days of the onset of symptoms to avoid serious illness.
Biden said 2,000 places in the U. S. The U. S. Department of Health and Health Services will now offer the check to treat, along with 240 federally qualified network fitness centers, Indian fitness service sites, VA fitness clinics and more than 60 Department of Defense medical remedy facilities.
Kates says the concept of testing to deal with is important, but “execution is going to be difficult. “But “we know that as soon as you get a diagnosis, the sooner you start treatment, the better. “
She says COVID-related origin issues with testing, vaccines, and especially remedies like Paxlovid are going to create challenges. And pharmacists’ ability to treat patients would likely be limited in some states through legislation governing the practice of medicine.
In fact, teams of doctors have objected to pharmacists dispensing a drug directly to a patient, due to the choice of side effects. Pharmacists also don’t usually know a person’s complete medical history, teams like the American Medical Association said.
And pharmacies are involved in the fact that the program can only be implemented through retail outlets with on-site clinics, which would restrict the type and number of pharmacies that can participate.
Most of the test-to-treat pharmacies indexed in covid. gov appear to be giant chains, such as CVS and Walgreens, or supermarket-affiliated pharmacies, there also appear to be independent outlets in some areas.
Press conference, President Joe Biden, March 30, 2022.
vacunas. gov.
covid. gov.
Medscape: “FDA Clears Fourth Dose of COVID for Many Americans,” “Subsidized COVID Testing, Treatments, and Vaccines May End Soon,” “Biden Touts 4-Step Pandemic Plan, Other State of the Union Health Initiatives. “
Jen Kates, PhD, Senior Vice President and Director of Global Health, Kaiser Family Foundation.
© 2005 – 2022 WebMD LLC. All rights reserved.
WebMD does not provide medical, diagnostic or remedy advice.
See more information.