Ahmed Aboulenein

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – The Biden administration announced Tuesday new measures to fight the Omicron coronavirus that has been rapidly spreading over winter.

These measures are an extension of the Dec. 2, plan which increased booster availability and tightened travel regulations. Here are some examples of these new measures:

TESTING

New federal testing locations will replace 20,000 free sites across the country. We’ll start with one in New York City just before Christmas.

Additional 500 million home rapid tests are available free of charge, beginning in January. Americans will have the ability to order their tests online at no charge and have them delivered right to their doorsteps.

HOSPITALS

The Administration is currently deploying six COVID-19 Surge Respond Teams to Michigan and Indiana.

In addition, it will send an additional 1000 military nurses and paramedics to the hospitals in January and February.

FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) will provide additional hospital beds and staff, all paid for by federal government. This is expected to happen immediately. FEMA will send 30 paramedics this week to New Hampshire. 30 to Vermont and 20 to Arizona. FEMA will also be sending 30 ambulances out to New York, and 8 to Maine.

VACCINES and BOOSTERS

FEMA will open new sites for vaccinations, including one in Washington and four units in New Mexico. This is part of the government’s efforts to reach Americans who are still unvaccinated.

Twelve states, tribals and territories will receive hundreds of federal vacciners.

To allow interns and pharmacists the ability to administer vaccines within states, regulations will be modified by Department of Health and Human Services.