The President of the United States, Joe Biden, will announce this Thursday (2) new measures to combat the coronavirus to be adopted by the country, including changes in the entry protocols for international travelers. Now, you will need to submit a negative Covid-19 test taken the day before you board, rather than three days earlier, as is currently required.
The measure, which should go into effect next week, reaches all international travelers, who will also need to be fully vaccinated to enter the US.
Biden will officially announce all the measures this Thursday afternoon, but part of them was anticipated by the White House. The government seeks to provide an answer amid the advance of the omicron variant, potentially more contagious, which had the first recorded case in the US on Wednesday (1).
For travelers, there will also be an expansion in the requirement for the use of masks on planes, trains and public transport, until March 18, 2022. The minimum fine in case of non-compliance will be US$ 500 (R$ 2,817) and may reach up to US$ 3,000 (R$ 16.9 thousand) in case of recurrence.
In all, Biden’s plan will have nine points, with emphasis on expanding the distribution of booster doses of vaccines. They will be offered to all adults and should be taken six months after the second dose of Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, and two months after the single dose of Janssen’s immunizer.
According to the White House, the booster will be offered at 80,000 points in the country, and more than 41 million Americans have already received the extra dose.
The government will also expand the vaccination of children from the age of five, with the aim of providing more security for schools to remain open. In the country, 99% of educational institutions are attending classes, according to the Biden administration.
There are also plans to ensure that businesses and companies remain open, and campaigns to get more employers to demand vaccinations from their employees.
There will be a new program to facilitate home testing, which can be obtained free of charge, but reimbursed by the health plan in most cases.
To help treat the infected, the government will have rapid-response medical teams to be sent to states where there is a sudden discharge of cases.
The White House also promises to increase access to drugs to treat Covid and ensure new approved drugs reach the entire country quickly.
On the international stage, the Biden government must commit to accelerating the donation of vaccines. The US talks about providing 1.2 billion doses to other countries, with 200 million of which would be delivered in the next 100 days.
There is also the perspective of expanding the production of immunizing agents abroad, as well as accelerating the adaptation of vaccines to the new variant, if necessary. Studies are still being done to assess the ability of current immunizers to contain the omicron.
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