Thread by @PattyMurray

LIVE: I’m chairing a Senate HELP Committee hearing with our nation’s leading public health experts and COVID-19 response team on the pandemic and our efforts to address new variants like Omicron. twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1…

Nearly 2 years into this pandemic, people are exhausted after all we’ve been through. We’re all alarmed by how quickly Omicron has spread—& anxious about what’s next. I’ve heard from people back in WA state who are frustrated & worried about the course of this pandemic.

They’re worried about persistent challenges—like how hard it still is to get a test, the long lines to get tested, and the cost of tests.

People have also found the communications about the new isolation and quarantine guidance confusing and frustrating.

Testing is a huge concern for parents & educators who are exhausted from the last 2 years & worried about schools staying open safely. While most schools are safely open for in-person learning—& we all want to make sure they stay that way—it’s clear schools are still struggling.

Hospitals and health care providers are stretched thin after two exhausting years—and now Omicron is causing the worst surge yet. While this variant may be less severe in most cases, it’s much more contagious. And we must protect everyone, especially those who are at higher risk.

These are not new challenges—I’ve been raising many of these concerns since the earliest days of this pandemic.

I’m frustrated we’re still behind on issues as important to families as testing and supporting schools.

That’s not to say we haven’t made progress—we just haven’t made enough.

Even though we aren’t where we need to be yet, we’re not back at the starting line when it comes to COVID-19 either. We have safe, effective vaccines & booster shots available, & new, lifesaving therapeutics

We passed the American Rescue Plan with more resources to address these challenges. We finally have an administration that is focused on following the science and facing this pandemic head-on. That difference is crucial.

There’s a lot of work ahead, and I’m glad @POTUS has announced steps to address these challenges, like providing free rapid tests, increasing vaccination and testing sites, and supporting schools. I expect to hear more details on these steps today.

We have a lot of work to do to address the pandemic at hand. I believe we have the tools we need to do it, and I look forward to hearing from the Biden Administration today about their continued efforts to bring this virus under control.