A Covid Testing Crisis, Again

By the end of last year, if you needed a coronavirus test, you could get one. But when vaccines arrived, focus shifted.

Many of the vaccinated felt like they didn’t need tests and demand took a nosedive. Testing sites were closed or converted into vaccination sites. And Abbott Laboratories, a major test manufacturer, wound up destroying millions.

However, with the surge of the new Omicron variant, which is less susceptible to vaccines, demand for testing is back — and it is outstripping supply.

Guest: Sheryl Gay Stolberg, a Washington correspondent, covering health policy for The New York Times.

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Background reading: 

President Biden came into office vowing to make coronavirus testing cheap and accessible, but matching supply with demand has been a persistent problem.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.