Pushing COVID-19 boosters, Biden says ‘we need to be ready’

By ZEKE MILLER and ALEXANDRA JAFFE
Associated Press

BETHESDA, Md. (AP) — With rising numbers of COVID-19 cases predicted this winter, President Joe Biden is appealing for Americans to get their boosters and get behind his plan to tackle the new omicron variant through wider availability of vaccines and shots. That plan doesn’t impose new major restrictions on daily life. Biden wants to require private insurers to cover the cost of at-home COVID-19 tests. And he’s tightening testing requirements for people entering the United States, regardless of their vaccination status. At this time, the president isn’t imposing additional clampdowns beyond his recommendation that Americans wear masks indoors in public settings.