WASHINGTON — The Biden administration is launching Covid.gov on Wednesday, a website where people can access information about tests, vaccines, treatments and the latest on the pandemic in communities across the country.
President Joe Biden is scheduled to deliver remarks in the afternoon and, according to a White House official, plans to highlight the new website’s test-to-treat locator, which helps people find pharmacies and community health centers where they can get tested for Covid and receive treatment if needed.
“He will also send an urgent, direct message to Congress to act swiftly to secure funding for our Covid response, and emphasize that the progress we have made is at severe risk if they fail to act to secure the funding we need to continue fighting the virus,” the official said.
The administration has requested that Congress pass $22.5 billion in emergency funding for Covid response. Lawmakers failed to wrap the money into a massive government spending package that they passed this month.
The White House said Wednesday in a release about the website that because Congress hasn’t approved the emergency funding, the U.S. is already suffering the consequences.
“In the last two weeks, the administration has had to stop reimbursing health care providers for treating the uninsured, cancel monoclonal antibody orders and cut states’ supply, reduce orders of treatments for the immunocompromised, and pull the U.S. out of line for future vaccine and next-generation treatment purchases,” it said.
The White House noted that the information offered on the new website will also be available on a national telephone hotline. The website has links that allow people to order free Covid tests, find locations where they can get vaccinated and obtain high-quality masks for free.
The website’s unveiling comes as the BA.2 omicron subvariant of Covid has now become the dominant strain of the disease in the U.S., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday.
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