Biden Admits Blunder on Covid-19 Tests: ‘If I Had Known, We Would Have Gone Harder’

President Joe Biden on Monday admitted his administration fell short in its handling of Covid-19 testing amid the spread of its Omicron variant, saying officials should have “gone harder” in retrospect.

In a televised exchange with around half of the nation’s governors, Biden said his administration had “worked with Google” so Americans could “search covid test near me — on Google — to find a location.” He also highlighted efforts by the Federal Emergency Management Administration to establish pop-up testing sites in New York City and took credit for test kits being produced by private manufacturers, which he said would total 200 million for the month of December.

However, he conceded, “It is not enough. It’s clearly not enough. If I had — we — had known, we would have gone harder, quicker, if we could have.”

Covid-19 test shortages have resulted in scenes of mayhem in some locations around the United States, including New York City, where people have been “climbing over” each other in an effort to obtain free at-home kits.

The Food and Drug Administration’s leisurely pace in approving at-home test kits for Covid-19 has been a top factor contributing to a nationwide shortage. To date, the agency has approved fewer than a dozen tests for commercial distribution of more than 100 offered by developers seeking approval.

Biden nonetheless lauded the agency’s work, noting, “We have eight [tests] on the market, and just three days ago, another test was cleared. … We went from no over-the-counter tests in January to 46 million in October, 100 million in November, and almost 200 million in December.”

He added: “America has made progress. Things are better, but we do know that with the rise in cases, we still have tens of millions of unvaccinated people and we are seeing hospitalizations rise. It means our hospitals in some places are going to get overrun both in terms of equipment and staff. … The bottom line is we want to assure the American people that we’re prepared.”

Watch above via Fox News.