at what went so wrong. and then, water, water everywhere, at least 300,000 people dealing with floods that have left entire communities under water and killed at least 17. welcome to the lead. i m jake tapper. our health lead. for the first time since taking office, president joe biden joined his covid team s regular call with the nation s governors telling state leaders, tell us what you need. this all comes as omicron cases surge nationwide. topping delta s peak. and the white house continues to struggle to address the testing supply shortage during the holidays. from miami to new york, kentucky to colorado, americans waiting, sometimes for hours, to find out if they test positive for covid. right now the u.s. is averaging close to 200,000 new covid cases every day. that s the highest number of cases on a daily rate since january 19th, 2021, before vaccinations, before boosters were widely available.
New York State and county leaders are all voicing concerns about the lack of COVID-19 vaccines as eligibility for the shots expanded beyond specific high-risk occupations and nursing homes to now include residents over the age of 65 but another shortage has reappeared.
Photo: Bob Joseph/WNBF News
In addition to a shortage of vaccines, there is again a shortage of testing supplies for the coronavirus.
As Broome County moves its mobile rapid testing site to the parking lot at the Oakdale Mall near the County Office of Employment and Training January 18 through the 29
th, officials say the testing has to be strictly limited to those who have been approved and granted a reservation.