This is because virus cases are dropping and people feel less urgency about testing.
The pandemic has seen wild demand swings in everything from vaccines to hand soap, as well as tests. COVIDtests.gov received more than 45 million orders on the first day of the White House test giveaway. Officials now claim that fewer than 100,000 orders per day are being received for the four quick tests each household receives from the U.S. Postal Service
The White House views the program as an important step towards a deeper and more flexible testing infrastructure that can handle demand surges while also being available to assist in cases of decline. According to Dr. Tom Inglesby (testing adviser to COVID-19’s response team), “We fully intend to sustain the market.” “We are aware that the market is volatile, and that there will be surges in variants.”
According to the White House, Americans have placed 68,000,000 orders for tests packages. This leaves approximately 46% of available stock.
Some experts say testing will be more important as mask requirements are now being relaxed. “Testing is essential if infection control remains our top priority,” stated Dr. Leana, an ex-Baltimore health commissioner and commentator about the pandemic. Four tests per household for one family is not enough. Families should have enough tests to be able to test twice per week.
Inglesby believes that everything is falling into place in order to accommodate this.
Private insurers must now cover eight rapid tests free of charge per person per month. Medicare coverage will begin in the spring. Administration has been offering free at-home testing through libraries, clinics, and other community venues. The labs have increased their capacity to perform more precise PCR tests. The White House has asked the industry to submit ideas for how to expand and sustain domestic testing throughout the year.
Wen believes that people still need to be given a guideline for when and how often they should test. She said, “Right now it’s still unclear.”
President Joe Biden made a pivot to testing just before Christmas, when the Omicron variant was in force. It was frustratingly difficult to find tests and costly. The White House is open to criticisms that it may have been too late for some people.
“There’s no doubt some people discovered they were positive after taking one of these tests, and were able prevent others from getting infected,” stated Tim Manning (supply coordinator for the COVID-19 Response Team).
Backstory about tests distribution
Omicron projections looking grimmer every day by December, the White House began to discuss how to make free testing available to anyone who needed one. However, if the government began siphoning off tests from the market, it would only make the problem worse.
Manning stated, “The most important thing for us was to make sure that we didn’t create a shortage in retail to the general population.”
The White House called on the Pentagon and certain parts of the Health and Human Services Department who had been involved in the Trump administration’s vaccination development effort to distribute vaccines. Logistics specialists searched the globe looking for suitable tests. The Postal Service was assigned to receive the orders and deliver them.
Hana Schank, a New America expert on government technology projects, stated that this was a smart move. The Postal Service already had a database that included every address in the country, as well as the means to deliver.
She stated that “at the federal level, there are no people with a database connected directly to a fulfillment engine.”
Manning stated that the project took less time than a month. Manning stated, “We said that this isn’t online retail.” “This is an emergency response. We have to get there as quickly as possible.”
The administration made sure that the free tests were not limited to tech-savvy people. They also targeted low-income communities with a portion of the deliveries. To spread the word, the White House collaborated with service organizations.
Inglesby, a testing advisor, stated that “we prioritized the processing orders to the highest socio vulnerability zip codes in this country.”
The National Association of Community Health Workers was one of the service groups. Its members help people navigate the healthcare system. Denise Smith, executive director of the group, said that they were able to link over 630,000 people with COVIDtests.gov through their website.
Officials stated that around 20% to 25% of the tests were given to people living in distress areas.
What’s next?
It’s not clear what the White House will do with its giveaway program now that demand has dropped so much. One possibility is repeat orders.
Smith believes that groups such as hers should be able to take any surplus. She said, “We know where people are.”
The program is still very much in its infancy. However, Lindsey Dawson from the Kaiser Family Foundation thinks that it could have a lasting legacy by introducing more people to testing. She said, “It might get someone comfortable using the tests and thinking about how testing could be used in their life.”
