safely. reporter: another sign that the swabs could play a massive role in our return to normalcy. how far away are we from a time when we ll have enough toasts accomplish that? we can all hope that the testing bottlenecks are resolved quickly, but i m rather convinced that this will take some time. now, a lot of the criticism here is not just about the quantity of testing but it s about developing a more aggressive strategy. now, for example, pills that treat covid, they may be available in the near future, but they need to be taken within a few days of showing symptoms, so dr mitcha is advising the government to get tests strategically placed in the homes of vulnerable people to catch the cases and give them medicines and possibly to save lives this. new announcement from the biden administration, it could be one big step towards getting to that point. gabe, thanks so much for take the deep type into that. really appreciate it. for more on this and what we ll be hearing on
my covid-19 team reporter: senior administration officials tell cnn that president biden is set to announce new testing measures today. they ll purchase a half billion at-home rapid tests to be delivered starting in january and set up more federal testing sites including one in new york city that will open before christmas. this prior to the pandemic, the u.s. is, you know, light-years behind our, you know, our peer nations in terms of making these tests readily available. reporter: last week, cdc director dr. rochelle walensky suggested increased testing will help keep schools open. these studies demonstrate the tests to keep unvaccinated children in schools safely. reporter: another sign that those swabs could play a massive role in our return to normalcy. how far away are we from a time where we ll have enough tests to accomplish that? we can all hope that the testing bottlenecks are resolved quickly, but i m rather