Opinion: As vaccination efforts falter, the U.S. must get serious about Covid-19 testing and reporting

As vaccination efforts falter, get serious about Covid-19 testing - STAT Making reliable Covid-19 testing more widely available and better reported can help stem the pandemic amid sluggish vaccination efforts. Patrick Skerrett STAT

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In many ways, the country is making progress. The fact that nearly 10% of children between the ages of 5 and 11 were vaccinated in the first two weeks they were eligible is heartening. Nearly all people who are hospitalized with Covid-19 are unvaccinated, underscoring the protective effect even for those with breakthrough cases. Yet disappointingly low vaccination rates in many areas means the virus retains its hold on the country. To end this pandemic, we must continue increasing vaccinations.

Unfortunately, increasing the number of Americans who are fully vaccinated is likely to be a slow process. Making reliable Covid-19 testing more widely available and better reported can help in the interim.

To improve a national Covid-19 testing strategy, it’s essential to distinguish between the various needs for testing and figure out how to meet them. First, as hospital emergency departments and doctors’ offices once again become crowded with people with respiratory illnesses, it is vital to distinguish those with Covid-19 from those with influenza or other respiratory diseases. Second, Covid-19 infection must be identified early in those who are at high risk of serious disease in order to respond with interventions such as monoclonal antibodies or the promising new antiviral pills the FDA is evaluating. Third, routine screening and surveillance testing must be increased across many settings and populations to identify new outbreaks. Fourth, it must be easy and affordable for every American to test themselves regularly to make family gatherings, social events, and a return to pre-pandemic activities safer.

In October 2020 — before vaccines and before the surge of the Delta variant — the AAMC Research and Action Institute, with which we are both affiliated, released its estimate for the number of daily Covid tests needed: more than 8 million tests a day. Yet as the virus surged through the nation once again through the fall and winter of 2020, there were never more than 2 million tests a day reported. ...