ACLA Statement on President Biden’s New COVID-19 Testing Plan
Following President Biden’s announcement regarding additional steps to counter the spread of COVID-19 nationwide, ACLA President Julie Khani released the following statement:
“As the country continues to face the ongoing threat and challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic, we applaud President Biden’s renewed focus on testing – which has been a critical component of our response from the earliest days. Today’s announcement takes important steps towards boosting access to COVID-19 testing, such as the expansion of specimen collection and testing sites across the country, along with bolstering production of over-the-counter and point-of-care tests, to help ensure Americans have readily available access to COVID-19 tests as part of return to work, school and daily life.
ACLA strongly supports efforts to fully leverage the broad range of high quality molecular, antigen, serology and T-cell tests available in laboratory, point-of-care and over-the-counter settings. A comprehensive approach to testing requires the full strength of the laboratory community, and ACLA members, who quickly and dramatically scaled up operations and maintained COVID-19 testing capacity, stand ready to support these efforts and ensure the widespread availability of these critical tests.
As we continue our fight against emerging variants and the challenges of increased virus transmission, strong public-private collaboration will be key to our response. ACLA laboratories are equipped and ready to continue their important role in COVID-19 testing, and we remain committed to working with the Administration to turn the corner on the pandemic.”
To read ACLA and AdvaMedDx’s recent letter to the Administration on recommendations to expand access to testing, click here.
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The American Clinical Laboratory Association (ACLA) is the national trade association representing leading laboratories that deliver essential diagnostic health information to patients and providers. ACLA members are at the forefront of driving diagnostic innovation to meet the country’s evolving health care needs and provide vital clinical laboratory tests that identify and prevent infectious, acute and chronic disease. ACLA works to advance the next generation of health care delivery through policies that expand access to lifesaving testing services.
