(The Hill) — White House medical adviser Anthony Fauci on Thursday said the U.S. would see significant improvements next month regarding the availability of COVID-19 tests.
The tests have been difficult to obtain amid soaring demand because of the omicron variant and holiday travel, as people seek tests before they meet in family gatherings.
“Things are going to greatly improve in January and beyond,” Fauci said of testing on Thursday on NewsNation’s “Morning in America.”
“I believe and I’m certain that as we get into January, the first few weeks in January, things will markedly improve because there will be a half a billion tests available in January,” he added. “In subsequent months, there will be anywhere from 200 to 500 million tests per month available including the ability to go online and order a test and have it delivered to your home free.”
“We’re doing much better than we were a year ago but we still have a ways to go,” the chief medical advisor to the Biden administration also said.
Some cities have seen long lines at testing sites fueled by the spread of the highly-contagious omicron variant.
Earlier this month, President Biden committed to purchasing a 500 million at-home COVID-19 tests that he said would be made available to Americans for free.
“I don’t think it’s a failure,” Biden said in an interview with ABC earlier this month when asked about the testing shortage. “You could argue that we should have known a year ago, six months ago, two months ago, a month ago.”
“I wish I had thought about ordering half a billion [tests] two months ago,” the president added.