positive all-americans while americans at large have struggled to find a testing. president biden is now expressing regret. >> i wish i had thought about ordering a half a billion. reporter: for not ordering 500 million rapid covid-19 test weeks ago. instead the president promised to distribute them to americans free of charge next month. >> we are getting bombarded, showered with testing. it's to the point where we ran out of test. reporter: holiday testing demand comes during one of the busiest travel times in the year and airlines canceling hundreds of flights due to staffing shortages. covid-19 cases across the country surge. the omicron variant is the most dominant strain. >> we are not shutting down. we are not cutting back. we will fight our way through this to new york city mayor bill de blasio felt the pressure and scale back the city's new year's eve celebration. hundreds of public schools will not immediately return to in person learning following the christmas break citing high