urgent things, overtime. obviously we hope that we can still keep urgent but nonemergency services running everywhere, but in every winter there s precious and times when hospitals have some difficulties. what covid will do is to make that considerably more difficult, so it will be patchy in different areas of the country, and at different points along the epidemic, and it will not reach a threshold but there will certainly be some hospitals and some areas of the country which will come under very substantial pressure over the next couple of weeks. to very substantial pressure over the next couple of weeks. next couple of weeks. to build on something next couple of weeks. to build on something we next couple of weeks. to build on something we said next couple of weeks. to build on something we said at next couple of weeks. to build on something we said at the - next couple of weeks. to build on something we said at the outset, | something we said at the outset, there somethi
but those are additional ways to keep kids safe and testing in schools can be an added layer of reassurance, too. dr. desi, there are still extremely long lines throughout the u.s. for testing. i am sure you are seeing them in new york on your way to work and despite the president s announcement last week about adding more, it may still take weeks for the uptake in home tests to meet the demand without the ability for the average american to go out and get tested when they need it. i mean, people are just scrambling at the pharmacy right now, day by day, trying to figure out is there a test that i can buy? do you worry about our ability to contain this wave without adequate testing available? it s a really important point and unfortunately we are behind the ball on this one. um, families are scrambling, especially around the holidays to get tested and new york city has great testing infrastructure and still we cannot keep up with the number of tests we need in this particular seaso
fauci says he expects things to get better in january, but what happens until then? yeah, this is this is not where we should be two years into this pandemic. you know, look, i think the administration undervalued testing for much of 2021. they relied heavily on vaccinations, which of course are terrific and really, really important. but we did not build up the testing infrastructure we needed to manage this winter surge. and that means the next few weeks will be really tough and frustrating and rightly so for americans. the key issue is, can we finally once and for all get it fixed once we get into january, february. the data all suggests that if you are vaccinated and boosted, you have a much better chance of not only surviving covid but not having that intense a case of covid. what about how transmissible you might be? are people who are vaccinated and boosted less infectious if
the first is this is an importance of getting quick testing. of course, our testing infrastructure is crumbling right now in the face of omicron, but a rapid test may be best so you can get treatment. the second thing to know, although this has been approved, it s not going to be widely available right away. before you come into the er or go to your doctor s office expecting to get a prescription, i would try to give them a call first. i expect that this is going to be rolled out across the country. it may be limited in access for a period of time. the third thing to know is, again, this does not substitute for vaccination. vaccination is just as, if not more, effective than the pill, but this is, again, an added thing to know about if you re someone who is high risk, so elderly or have chronic conditions for progression of the disease. al bowler, the advisor
inconceivable. medical contributor dr. uché blackstock is the founder and ceo of advancing health equity. dr. blackstock, thank you so much for being here. i m desperate to know what you want to hear from the president on tuesday. alicia, i need the president to be bold and courageous and innovative this tuesday. we heard so much about a very vaccine-centric strategy, and we need a plan that will involve layered mitigation, which we talk about so much. we need him to use his bully pulpit to encourage all states to have indoor mask mandates. we need him to make rapid testing even more accessible to people so they don t have to go through their insurance companies. we need him to talk about how he s going to make the testing infrastructure more robust. we also need to hear how he s going to set ventilation and air infiltration standards for