‘Makes No Sense’: Dr. Peter Hotez Rebukes White House Plan for Americans to Get Tested for Covid

Dr. Peter Hotez, who has appeared many times on television to give his expertise amid the coronavirus pandemic, said on CNN on Thursday that the White House’s plan for Americans to get tested for Covid “makes no sense.”

Appearing on The Lead, Hotez told Jake Tapper,

I think the current plan makes no sense as far as I can see, that we’re going to task consumers to buy it on their own and then try to get it out of the insurance companies. We’ve learned, Jake, one thing, among the things we’ve learned over the last two years, is our health system when it comes to Covid-19 can tolerate zero complexity. The minute we make things the least bit fussy, it totally breaks down because in the end we don’t have a health system like the U.K. or Western European countries or Israel or even, you know, Canada. We just have a very depleted health system and it doesn’t work.

So here’s what has to happen: We’ve got to-we don’t have to make it free, but anyone should be able to walk into a CVS or Rite Aid or local pharmacy and for a couple of bucks, at a subsidized rate, get a home test so they can do home testing. We have to make things super easy breezy if we want Americans to get tested. And so– and that’s where we need to aspire to go. And it shouldn’t be that hard. We’ve never fixed testing in this country.

During Monday’s White House press briefing, NPR’s Mara Liasson questioned White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki about why the Biden administration isn’t sending self-testing kits to Americans. Instead, the White House is reimbursing people through their health insurance if they get such tests.

Liasson asked Psaki, “Why not just make them free and have them available everywhere?”

“Should we just send one to every American?” Psaki replied.

“Maybe,” Liasson shot back.

Watch above, via CNN.