The White House today announced the launch of COVID.gov, a one-stop shop for public resources related to COVID-19 updates, tests, vaccines, and more.
The site also launched a “test-to-treat” locator, which President Biden first announced in his State of The Union at the beginning of March. The locator will allow the public to find one of the more than 2,000 sites stood up since the beginning of the month that will allow the public to access COVID-19 tests and antiviral treatments at the same place if needed.
“Protecting the American people from COVID-19 now and into the future relies on affordable and accessible tools like vaccines, treatments, tests, and high-quality masks,” the White House said in a fact sheet. “Through efforts like COVID.gov and Test-to-Treat, the Administration continues to take steps to make these tools even more readily available. Now, we need Congress to do its part and continue to fund the COVID-19 response.”
The administration also took the time to push Congress for additional COVID-19 funding, a measure that was stripped from the fiscal year (FY) 2022 omnibus bill over disagreements on how to fund it.
The administration is asking for $22.5 billion in additional emergency COVID-19 funding, which congressional Republicans have argued needs to be entirely paid for. Biden has said those funds are needed to ensure the administration can resume covering treatments for the uninsured – a practice which it has stopped in the last two weeks due to funding – as well as to fully execute his National COVID-19 Preparedness Plan.
“The President was clear that in order to execute on this plan and to stay ahead of the virus, the Administration needs additional funding from Congress – including $22.5 billion in immediate emergency funds,” the fact sheet says. “To date, Congress has failed to provide those funds and the country is already suffering the consequences.”
President Biden recently appointed Dr. Ashish Jha to lead the White House COVID-19 response, taking over for Jeff Zients, who was the White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator from Biden’s inauguration until earlier this month.
