President Joe Biden on Tuesday gave an update on his administration’s plans to counter the omicron variant of Covid-19. If you missed the speech as it aired, don’t worry: By now, you’ve probably already got the gist of it down pat.
The White House is left basically pulling at levers that have already been pulled the last two years.
The specifics may have changed — the administration announced that 500 million at-home tests will be made available for free — but the broad strokes of Biden’s announcement are similar to what we’ve been hearing for months: Wear a mask in crowded areas; get vaccinated; get a booster, if eligible; get tested, if you’re feeling ill.
“I know you’re tired,” Biden said toward the end of his remarks. “I really mean this. I know you’re frustrated. We all want this to be over. But we’re still in it. We also have more tools than we’ve ever had before.”
He’s right. Between the vaccines, pharmaceutical treatments, various testing methods and other capabilities, there are more ways than ever to keep the pandemic from overwhelming the nation. But it’s also true that there aren’t any new tricks left to try. The White House is left basically pulling at levers that have already been pulled the last two years. In effect, the Biden administration’s response to omicron involves doing what it’s been doing since taking office: assessing what’s been working and what hasn’t been and highlighting some methods at the risk of de-emphasizing others.
The biggest question, then, is what happens if the tools in the toolbox are enough — or, worse, if their impact has been blunted over time.
While many Americans have considered canceling plans to travel and gather with family over the next few weeks, Biden dismissed the idea — for most Americans, that is. He assured listeners that if they and their loved ones “are vaccinated and follow the precautions that we all know well, you should feel comfortable celebrating the holidays as you planned them.” Biden added, in a perfect sound bite that I hope doesn’t come back to bite him: “You’ve done the right thing; you should enjoy the holiday season.”
Most of the new tweaks that Biden announced, including backtracking on his administration’s previous resistance to providing free at-home tests, involve scaling up accessibility to the aforementioned precautions. That includes increasing federal vaccination sites between now and January, deploying more vaccinators where there’s high demand and standing up more testing sites. Given the long lines for testing around the country, that’s sure to relieve some of the pressure that’s been building in the last few weeks.
All this is great for the people who have been — and still are — willing to take the steps necessary to keep themselves safe. That leaves very much up in the air what to do with the people who are, as Biden himself said, tired and frustrated with the restrictions that Covid-19 has made necessary, or, more concerning, how to handle the Americans who gave up months ago.
As someone who has still been wearing a mask indoors (except in the very occasional restaurant or bar) despite being vaccinated, I know I’m in the minority. As MSNBC columnist Noah Rothman noted on Twitter soon after Biden’s address ended, “I’m not sure either this White House or those for whom this speech was intended know how many Americans are going without masks everywhere, all the time, and have been for many months.”








