Last Wednesday (Mar 2), The White House released its new roadmap for the Covid-19 pandemic — “one that envisions life going back to normal after two years of crisis, providing for people to get tested and treated for the disease, while staying vigilant for new variants and outbreaks”.

“We look to a future when Americans no longer fear lock-downs, shutdowns, and our kids not going to school. It’s a future when the country relies on the powerful layers of protection we have built and invests in the next generation of tools to stay ahead of this virus.”

– The White House Covid-19

According to the Washington Post, the new plan focuses on four goals:

• Protecting against and treating covid, including a “test to treat” initiative that would give people antiviral pills immediately if they test positive at select pharmacies and clinics;
• Preparing for a potentially dangerous new variant;
• Preventing economic and educational shutdowns; and
• Expanding vaccinations worldwide.

We are clearly going in the right direction, and with all the interventions we have, I believe that we are prepared for the possibility that we will get another variant, with regard to vaccines, boosters, testing, good masks and antivirals.

– Dr. Anthony Fauci, chief medical adviser to the White House (source: NPR News)

Natalie Quillian, the deputy White House COVID-19 response coordinator, told NPR News “You can go into a pharmacy clinic like CVS MinuteClinic, like a Walgreens clinic or others, and you can get your test, wait for your results, if you’re positive, get the pills — if that’s the right treatment for you.”

• The White House has a new plan for COVID-19 aimed at getting things back to normal
• White House will roll out next phase of Covid-19 response Wednesday
• White House unveils pandemic ‘reset’ plan, says shutdowns, school closures no longer necessary

According to the CNN, the playbook was put on test last month across the government officials reportedly holding “a multi-hour tabletop exercise on video conference involving a fictional variant that led to a spike in cases and increased strain on the nation’s hospitals”.

“The new strategy document draws on an internal government playbook that White House officials have crafted outlining how the government can most effectively respond to the emergence of new variants.”

Amesh Adalja, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, told the Washington Post “The way people approach covid-19 is going to be based on their individual risk tolerance, instead of some government mandate. We have to come up with an approach that reflects the fact that there will always be covid-19. It can’t be eradicated or eliminated.”

Quoting a senior government official CNN writes “The big thing moving forward is that we have the tools, we have worked hard as an administration and as the American people to protect ourselves, to move forward to where Covid doesn’t dictate how we live anymore,” the senior administration official said. “It’s because of all this hard work that we can move forward.”