New White House Website Speeds Access to Free COVID Care

THURSDAY, March 31, 2022 (HealthDay News)

The Biden administration announced Wednesday that it has launched a new website that includes help for people trying to find free COVID prevention and treatment quickly.

COVID.gov will bring into one place several types of critical COVID-19 information, from finding high-quality masks to testing requirements for international travel.

“We could not have done this six or eight months ago, because we didn’t have all the tools we have now,” Jeff Zients, the White House coronavirus response coordinator, told NPR.

This new tool will also provide information on community risk levels, as well as vaccination sites and forms for ordering eight free at-home tests per household.

“Today, I’m announcing the launch of COVID.gov… a one-stop shop where anyone in America can find what they need to navigate the virus: free vaccines and boosters, free at-home tests, high-quality masks. And for the latest information about the level of COVID-19 spread in your community, you can get that immediately,” Biden said in a White House news release about the website Wednesday.

“Now, you’ll also be able to find our new test-to-treat locations, which I announced in my State of the Union Address. These are pharmacies and other places in your neighborhood where you can get tested,” he added. “And if you’re positive, you can get lifesaving treatments all in one stop. We’ve already stood up 2,000 test-to-treat sites… across the country.”

People can also be tested and treated by their own health care providers, who can prescribe the antiviral pills.

Those medications include both Evusheld, a drug that appears to boost immunity for those who are immunocompromised, and Paxlovid, which is highly effective at preventing hospitalization and death among people at high risk of severe disease.

The website information is available in English, Spanish and Chinese. It can also be found at the national vaccine hotline at 1-800-232-0233 (TTY 1-888-720-7489). The hotline supports over 150 languages.

Average daily COVID-19 cases have decreased 12% in the United States in the past two weeks, according to The New York Times. Hospitalizations have dropped by 33% and deaths by 44% in that time period.

More information

Track additional COVID-19 information at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention‘s COVID Data Tracker.

SOURCES: White House, news release, March 30, 2022; The New York Times; NPR

By Marianne (Consumer)Madeiros and Cara Murez HealthDay Reporters

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