*There will be new restrictions for travelers to the U.S.
By Pamela Cruz. Pen sula 360 Press [P360P]
After the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported this week that the icron variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus had entered the country, detected as of Thursday afternoon in at least three people, President Joseph Biden announced the Winter Plan to combat COVID-19.
The plan, which Biden said focuses on five steps, does not include lockdowns or closures but rather vaccinations, widespread boosters, testing and additional measures for travelers entering the country.
First, he said, the COVID-19 vaccine booster campaign will be expanded nationwide with more reach, more appointments, more hours, more schedules and more places to go, providing booster doses for up to 110 million Americans eligible to receive them.
The second point, the president stressed from Maryland this Thursday, will be opening new family vaccination clinics to make it easier for children, parents and entire families to get vaccinated in one place, in addition to new policies to keep children in school instead of quarantining them at home.
The third piece of this, he said, is making free at-home testing more widely available and covered by private insurance plans, as well as being able to get it at thousands of places like community health centers and other sites for those who don't have insurance.
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