Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy hit White House press secretary Jen Psaki with a list of questions Monday about the Biden administration’s COVID-19 messaging and testing capacity.
Doocy asked Psaki why the administration hasn’t done more to increase the country’s testing capability before the “winter of severe illness and death,” President Joe Biden predicted. He also asked whether Biden would admit that vaccines aren’t preventing the spread of COVID-19.
When Doocy asked why the administration was unprepared for an increased need for tests following the holidays, Psaki said that new testing sites have been opened by the administration and there has been a tenfold increase in COVID-19 testing nationwide compared to one year ago.
Doocy asked Psaki about why the instructions coming from the White House on testing are the opposite of CDC guidance: “The tests you’re talking about though, require people to go somewhere and either make an appointment or wait in line. The CDC’s guidance is if you think you have COVID you’re supposed to stay home,” he said. “You guys said you were gonna mail free tests to people that need them. The president’s there on television talking about a winter of severe illness and death. While he’s saying that publicly, why weren’t you guys doing more to prepare for the winter?
“Everyone decides where they’re going to go get a test,” Psaki answered. “We make a range of options available. You can also purchase tests online.”
Although there are more testing options across the country, it has not met the demand. People are waiting in lines for hours to be tested at public sites and it can take weeks to get a test shipped from an online purchase.
Doocy then questioned the Biden team’s plan to ship tests directly to Americans via the Postal Service.
“We understand that you guys plan to rely on the Postal Service to send out these free tests whenever they’re ready, but the Postal Service says they’re gonna have a staffing shortage because of your vaccine mandate,” Doocy said. “So would you pull back on the vaccine mandate if it meant getting people these free tests sooner?”
“The Postal Service also delivered 98, 99 percent of packages on time in advance of Christmas. And they also, their leaders also have said they’re eager to take on this challenge,” Psaki rebutted. “So we welcome that, and we’re looking forward to working with them to get these tests out to the public.”
The Biden team has repeatedly said that COVID-19 is a “pandemic of the unvaccinated,” but Doocy pointed out that while vaccines lower the chances that someone will catch or spread the virus, they clearly can’t prevent it.