United States President Biden announced Wednesday that Americans would soon be able to get free COVID-19 testing through a government-run website that is not yet operational.
"We will have websites where you can order them," Biden said of the 500 million at-home tests the government will purchase to contain the Omicron surge.
The increased efforts, however, will not arrive in time for people who want to know if they are sick before the holidays.
Americans have been scouring pharmacies for scant home tests or standing in freezing temperatures for hours at testing sites located throughout the country.
In Atlanta, drugstores ran out of home tests, and authorities closed testing locations because traffic stretched for almost a mile or more.
Days before Christmas, a drive-thru testing location in Columbia, South Carolina, that used to have shorter queues for months than some adjacent restaurants, had waits of an hour or longer.
Staff advised that results may take longer than the standard 24 to 36 hours.
In Massachusetts, consumers searched for limited home tests at retail outlets, pharmacies, and town board of health locations, or standing in freezing weather for hours at testing centers.
Drugstores in New York City displayed signs informing consumers that they were out of testing kits. At some locations, lines ran around several blocks, with some stating that test results could take three to four days.
One website quoted a price of $150 for next-day delivery. The fee for results in two hours was $389.
Jordin Thomas waited almost five hours for a test this week in New York City's Brooklyn borough. He said not all people can leave their work for three hours just to get tested. "It feels like it's the only option we have," he said.
Detjon Bushgjokaj was one of hundreds of persons in Everett, Massachusetts, looking for a test. He had to wait for an hour and a half after his 6-year-old daughter, who had not yet been inoculated, contracted the virus.
A variety of factors are driving the surge in demand for testing, including families looking to make Christmas parties safe and people having to verify they are virus-free for travel or work.
Infections in the U.S. average around 149,000 per day, climbing from 75,000 a day at the beginning of last month.
Despite the fact that the technology to carry out PCR lab tests takes less than a day, testing centers suffer staffing problems, Mara Aspinall, an Arizona State University professor of biomedical diagnostics, said.
According to Dr. Marcus Plescia, chief medical officer for the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, demand for testing will only increase after the holidays, when individuals will want to find out if their holiday travels and parties resulted in infections.
