Joe Biden's promise to deliver 500m at home Covid tests to Americans nationwide is ambitious, but some health officials worry that the initiative is unrealistic and ultimately ineffective.
Dr Jennifer Nuzzo, an epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, spoke with The New York Times about how the program's rollout will ultimately determine its efficacy.
"If those tests came in January and February, that could have an impact, but if they are spread out over 10 to 12 months, I'm not sure what kind of impact it is going to have," she said.
She noted that there was no ordering infrastructure – like a website – set up yet, and Mr Biden has yet to sign contracts for the tests.
"That's not a plan – it's a hope," she said.
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As the highly transmissible Omicron variant became the dominant strain in the US, demand for at home tests surged. As a result, retailers like Amazon, Walgreens and CVS have had to impose limits on the number of tests each individual may purchase.
Mr Biden is continuing to use the Defense Production Act to manufacture more tests, but it is unclear if the administration has access to enough at the moment to meet potential demand come January. Some state-led initiatives to distribute masks, like those in Colorado and Maryland, may help bolster the federal program.
Health officials warn that the virus could infect 140m people between January and March.
On a positive note, research indicates that the omicron variant producers milder symptoms than the more severe Delta strain, which was 40 per cent more likely to cause serious sickness or death. As with all previous strains, vaccination greatly reduces the risk of both infection and developing severe symptoms.
On Tuesday, Dr Anthony Facui, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, said that Americans should consider disinviting their unvaccinated relatives from family gatherings in order to protect them.
“We're dealing with a serious enough situation now that if there's an unvaccinated person, I would say, 'I'm very sorry, but not this time. Maybe another time when this is all over,’'' Dr Fauci said in an interview with MSNBC.
Health officials anticipate Omicron infections will peak in January with around 2.m new cases by the 28th.
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Approximately 60 per cent of the US is expected to become infected, with most cases being asymptomatic.
More than 800,000 people have died in the US from the coronavirus since it began to spread, and more than 51m infections have been recorded in the US.