because they are seeing so many coronavirus infections there, so while many americans are hopeful that they will soon see an endemic, that optimism right now has to be guarded and tempered. ana? nick violence yeah, thank you. just into the cnn newsroom, the website where you can order free covid-19 at-home tests from the government is up and running. the site was quietly launched today. we just checked. it does work. go to www..covidtests.gov, and that s where can you order your tests. each household can order a maximum of four tests to be shipped directly to your home. joining us now is dr. paul offiat, director of the vaccine education center at children s hospital of philadelphia. he s also a member of the fda vaccine advisory committee. doctor, given just how many people have been infected now with this omicron wave plus the believes, plus more vaccinations, the silver running that this virus runs low on
hospitalized this week than last week and no states trending down at the moment. some are a bit optimistic as omicron hit in the northeast first and you do see cases starting to trickle down but in places in the country like the midwest where it came later omicron is still trending up so the question is do you view this as half empty or half full? let s get insights from our senior medical correspondent elizabeth cohen. listen to dr. paul offiat, one of the experts helping us throughout the year. he says brace yourself but i really do think within the next three to four to five weeks you ll see a dramatic decline in the instance of this illness and we ll feel better, a least as we get into spring, summer and early fall and then presumably next winter we ll see a surge that s less than this surge. that s the glass half full in that the next few weeks will be tough for most of the country but he does see some hope. that s right, and from dr. offiat s mouth to god s ears that s al