Kelly Clarkson has lost her bid to have have ex-husband Brandon Blackstock tossed off their Montana ranch amid the former couple’s ongoing divorce battle, a source tells Us Weekly.
“Kelly recently had a major legal setback in a bid to get Brandon evicted from the Montana property that the judge awarded solely to her,” says the insider. “He has been living in it and said he doesn’t have the financial means to afford to purchase a residence of his own at this time, citing the unresolved financial aspect of their divorce.”
The Kelly Clarkson Show host, 39, pleaded her case in a virtual hearing on November 11, but “The judge sided with Brandon and ruled in his favor, the order just hasn’t been formally signed off on,” according to the source.
The 45-year-old music manager has been living on the ranch since their split, which costs $81,000 per month to maintain, according to court docs obtained by Us. Blackstock previously testified that he wants to leave the entertainment industry and become a full-time rancher and rodeo sponsor.
Clarkson’s attempt to sell the Montana ranch was denied, but a judge ordered Blackstock to pay the maintenance fees associated with the property. If he fails to keep up with the payments, Clarkson can file another motion to sell.
Clarkson and Blackstock are set to appear back in court in February 2022 to discuss their property, and then again in June 2022.
ZZ Top is the latest veteran rock act to sell its catalog for big bucks.
The little ol’ band from Texas has made a deal with BMG and the investment firm KKR to acquire its “entire music interests,” including the band’s publishing catalog and its income from recorded and performance royalties.
ZZ Top, whose bass player, Dusty Hill, died unexpectedly this year, released 15 albums throughout their five-decade career, including the ’80s smashes Eliminator and Afterburner, and the classics Tres Hombres, Fandango and Degüello. The Rock and Roll Hall of Famers have sold more than 50 million albums worldwide.
The band’s manager said in a statement, “This new deal ensures ZZ Top’s remarkable legacy will endure for generations to come.”
As for the price tag, sources tell Variety that it’s estimated to be around $50 million.
Jeff Garlin, who exited the The Goldbergs last week following multiple misconduct allegations, will reportedly continue to appear in the show’s current season through the magic of editing.
The plan for now is that Garlin will appear on the ABC sitcom through the use of off-camera dialogue pulled from earlier episodes and unused takes, as well as previously shot images of Garlin, sources tell Variety. There won’t be deep fake images, nor any face replacement. Garlin will continue to appearon the show in some form for now, which means the actor will continue to be paid, even though he technically won’t be working, Variety reports.
Garlin will not film any new episodes of The Goldbergs, but his stand-in has already been used, shot from the back, in group scenes since his departure, adds the industry trade. Additionally, Garlin’s stand-in has appeared in promotional materials for the show in the past, with the actor’s head superimposed on the other man’s body.
Garlin has played the character of Murray since The Goldbergs premiered in 2013. However, over the years, his character has become less central to the ABC sitcom, with Garlin working only one day a week this season, according to Variety.
(NEW YORK) — As the COVID-19 pandemic has swept the globe, more than 5.3 million people have died from the disease worldwide, including over 807,000 Americans, according to real-time data compiled by Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering.
About 61.5% of the population in the United States is fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Dec 21, 8:19 am
Fauci on omicron’s ‘unprecedented’ spread
Dr, Anthony Fauci on Tuesday called omiron’s spread “unprecedented.”
“It is really extremely unusual,” he told Good Morning America. “It’s a doubling time of two to three days, closer to two days. Which means that if you start off with a few percentage of the isolates being omicron, and you do the math and double that every couple of days, it’s not surprising that just a week or two ago we had only 8% to 10%, and now we have 73% of all the isolates are omicron. That’s truly unprecedented in the rapidity with which a virus spreads.”
Fauci predicted omicron’s peak will be soon.
“It’s going to be a matter of a couple of weeks that we then start to see just as dramatic a decline,” he said. “That’s what we’re hoping for.”
“When you have something that goes up this quickly, often you see it come right back down. Because what will happen is that either almost everyone is either going to get infected, particularly the unvaccinated, or be vaccinated,” he said. “And the vaccinated people will either be — particularly the boosted people, and it’s very important to underscore right now the importance of getting boosted — that those people will either be protected from infection, or if they do get infected, they’ll have a relatively mild course of infection.”
World Health Organization Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Monday recommended delaying or canceling holiday events, saying, “an event canceled is better than a life canceled.”
Fauci told GMA that family gatherings are safe if you know everyone is vaccinated.
“When you have a family setting, for example, parents, grandparents, children, who are vaccinated, you should have an enjoyable Christmas and holiday gathering, dinner, whatever in your own home,” Fauci said. “What you want to stay away from is indoor congregant sittings in which you do not know the vaccination status of the people around you. That would be quite risky.”
Dec 21, 3:05 am
Broadway’s ‘Harry Potter’ cancels Christmas week performances
The Broadway shows “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” and “Hadestown” canceled their Christmas week performances, citing rising breakthrough COVID-19 cases.
“We will enchant you another time and apologize for the inconvenience,” said a notice posted on the “Harry Potter” Twitter account late on Monday night.
The two shows added to a growing list of those cancelling performances amid the spread of the omicron variant. “Hamilton” and “Aladdin” both announced they’d stay dark until after Christmas.
Another Broadway musical, “Jagged Little Pill,” based on Alanis Morissette’s catalog, said on Monday it would close its doors for good.
The producers of “Pill” said in a Twitter post that the spread of the omicron variant “appears to be another substantial public health crisis.” Members of the production’s company tested positive for COVID-19, the post said.
Dec 20, 7:43 pm
Biden tests negative after close contact with positive staff member
President Joe Biden was exposed to a staff member who recently tested positive for COVID-19, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement Monday evening.
Biden was near the staff member for about 30 minutes on Air Force One on Friday, during a trip to Philadelphia from South Carolina, according to Psaki.
The staff member, who is fully vaccinated and boosted, tested negative Friday morning, but tested positive Monday, according to the White House.
The president received an antigen test Sunday and a PCR test Monday, and both came back negative, Psaki said in a statement. He will receive another test Wednesday, she said.
“As CDC guidance does not require fully vaccinated people to quarantine after an exposure, the president will continue with his daily schedule,” Psaki said in a statement.
-ABC News’ Sarah Kolinovsky
Dec 20, 6:51 pm
U.S. records what’s believed to be 1st known omicron related death
Health officials in Texas announced Monday that it recorded the first death related to the omicron COVID-19 variant.
This is believed to be the first known recorded omicron death in the U.S.
Harris County Health officials would only say the victim was “a man in his 50s,” who was unvaccinated and had underlying health conditions..
Public health officials do not think omicron is more virulent than previous variants, but they do say in general vaccination and a booster shot when eligible appears to lower your risk for severe illness.
Dec 20, 6:39 pm
More military teams to be deployed to hospitals
The military announced it is sending two teams to hospitals in Wisconsin and Indiana to assist with rising COVID-19 cases.
The 20-person teams include nurses, respiratory therapists, and medical doctors from the U.S. Navy.
They will be assisting Indiana University Health Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis starting on Christmas Day and Bellin Hospital in Green Bay, Wisconsin starting on New Year’s Eve, according to a U.S. Army North spokesperson.
Ten other military teams have been deployed to hospitals in five other states.
(NEW YORK) — Proctor & Gamble has issued a recall for dozens of its products.
P&G announced it is discontinuing a wide range of aerosol dry shampoos and conditioners from some of the company’s standout brands such as Pantene, Herbal Essences, Old Spice and more due to the presence of benzene, a potential cancer-causing agent.
Benzene is a colorless or light yellow liquid chemical that has a sweet odor and is flammable, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It evaporates into the air quickly and dissolves only slightly in water.
The CDC has said long-term exposure to high levels of benzene in the air can cause leukemia, cancer of the blood-forming organs.
Based on exposure modeling and cancer risk assessments published by the Environmental Protection Agency, P&G said daily exposure to benzene in its recalled products — at the levels detected during testing — would not be expected to cause adverse health consequences.
The personal care and consumer goods corporation stated that it has not received any reports of adverse events related to this recall to date. It said the recall was conducted as a cautionary action.
“While benzene is not an ingredient in any of our products, our review showed that unexpected levels of benzene came from the propellant that sprays the product out of the can,” P&G stated. “We detected benzene in aerosol dry shampoo spray products and aerosol dry conditioner spray products.”
The brands impacted by the recall are offering reimbursements for eligible products, and any reactions or quality problems related to the use of any of the recalled products should be reported to the FDA’s MedWatch Adverse Event Reporting program.
See the full list of P&G products being recalled below:
– Waterless Dry Conditioner Weightless Smooth (3.6 oz) with UPC 37000543954 with a production code in the range of 0002-0248 or 9298-9350.
– Waterless Dry Conditioner Instant Moisture (3.6 oz) with UPC 37000543831 with a production code in the range of 0009-0069 or 9297-9350.
– Waterless Dry Conditioner Weightless Smooth (.98 oz) with UPC 37000544111 with a production code in the range of 0084-0085 or 9284-9361.
– Waterless Dry Conditioner Instant Moisture (.98 oz) with UPC 37000544227 with a production code in the range of 0017-0100 or 9283-9284.
– Waterless Dry Shampoo No Residue (3.7 oz) with UPC 37000543787 with a production code in the range of 0004-0357 or 9291-9344.
– Waterless Dry Shampoo No Residue (1 oz) with UPC 37000543978 with a production code in the range of 0175-0176 or 9295-9297.
– Pantene Sultry Bronde All in One Luxury Mist (4.9 oz) with UPC 80878188710 with production code 0038.
– Pantene Smooth Talker Dry Conditioning Oil (3.9 oz) with UPC 80878192397 with a production code in the range of 0183-0365 or 1042-1046.
– Pantene Mist Behaving Dry Conditioning Mist (3.9 oz) with UPC 80878190898 with a production code in the range of 0048-0336 or 1008-1218 or 9247-9349.
– Pantene Mist Behaving Dry Conditioning Mist (3.9 oz) with UPC 80878188758 with a production code in the range of 9108-9303.
– Pantene Mist Behaving Dry Conditioning Mist (1 oz) with UPC 80878188765 with a production code in the range of 0107-0262 or 9112-9288.
– Pantene Gold Series Instant Nourishing Spray (4.9 oz) with UPC 80878188987 with a production code in the range of 0307 or 9263-9266.
– Aussie Smooth Vibes Dry Conditioner (4.9 oz) with UPC 381519187957 with production code 0021 or 1038 or in the range of 9294-9325.
– Aussie Petal Soft Dry Conditioner (4.9 oz) with UPC 381519187544 with a production code in the range of 9196-9246.
– Aussie Sleekend Warrior Dry Conditioner (4.9 oz) with UPC 381519187537 with a production code in the range of 0014-0062 or 9198-9349.
– Herbal Essences Blue Ginger Refresh Dry Shampoo (4.9 oz) with UPC 190679001498 with a production code in the range of 9047-9072.
– Herbal Essences White Grapefruit & Mint Dry Shampoo (4.9 oz) with UPC 190679000262 with a production code in the range of 0015-0314 or 1004-1019 or 9028-9348.
– Herbal Essences White Strawberry & Sweet Mint Dry Shampoo (4.9 oz) with UPC 190679000255 with a production code in the range of 0167-0308 or 1105-1106 or 9049-9348.
– Herbal Essences Cucumber & Green Tea Dry Shampoo (4.9 oz) with UPC 190679000248 with a production code 0093 or 1075 or in the range of 9029-9294.
– Herbal Essences Cucumber & Green Tea Dry Shampoo (1.7 oz) with UPC 190679000330 with a production code in the range of 0036-0329 or 1019-1098 or 9023-9312.
– Pantene Dry Shampoo No Water Refresh (4.9 oz) with UPC 80878177042 with a production code in the range of 9009-9058.
– Pantene Dry Shampoo Sheer Volume (4.9 oz) with UPC 80878185276 with a production code in the range of 9025-9260.
– Pantene Never Tell Dry Shampoo (4.2 oz) with UPC 80878188727 with a production code in the range of 0006-0364 or 1074-1133 or 9157-9329.
– Aussie After Hours Dry Shampoo Texture Spray 4.9 oz) with UPC 381519187834 with a production code in the range of 0139-0140.
– Aussie Tousle Hustle Dry Shampoo (4.9 oz) with UPC 381519187285 with a production code in the range of 0013-0300 or 1038 or 9189.
– Aussie Bounce Back Dry Shampoo (4.9 oz) with UPC 381519187278 with a production code in the range of 0013-00357 or 1018-1123 or 9189-9345.
– Aussie Clean Color Protect Shampoo (4.9 oz) with UPC 381519187360 with a production code in the range of 9047-9123.
– Aussie Clean Texture Dry Shampoo (4.9 oz) with UPC 381519187285 with a production code in the range of 9072-9176.
– Aussie Clean Volume Dry Shampoo (4.9 oz) with UPC 381519187278 with production code 9085.
– Hair Food Coconut Dry Shampoo (4.9 oz) with UPC 37000876717 with a production code in the range of 0027-0192 or 9007.
– Old Spice Fiji Dry Shampoo (4.9 oz) with UPC 37000779421 with a production code in the range of 9046-9228.
– Old Spice Pure Sport Dry Shampoo (4.9 oz) with UPC 37000785170 with a production code in the range of 9040-9239.
Cindy Ord/Getty Images for Casa Reale, Vivien Killilea/Getty Images for Roc Nation
DJ Khaled and Mary J. Blige are cooking up the visuals for their catchy anthem, “Amazing.”
Taking to social media Monday night, both artists teased the flashy music video, which drops Tuesday at 10 a.m.
The just over 30-second clip features the R&B icon and DJ living it up and popping bottles of bubbly at a colorful, vibrant party on a lavish estate.
Mary captioned the snippet, “Only Positive Vibes .. I don’t pay ‘em no mind… I don’t pay ‘em no minnnnd…. Ready for the “Amazing” video?”
Mary first released the DJ Khaled-assisted track “Amazing,” which is essentially a self-confidence anthem, on December 3. Prior to its release, the Queen of Hip Hop-Soul teased this next chapter of her music.
“Wait till you hear it, it’s gonna blow everybody’s mind,” she said on the Tamron Hall Show. “And it’s because it’s something I had to do, and something I had to say when I was in my darkest, darkest moments in that life, to build myself up to this person that I can see and accept my nose, accept my eyes, accept my cheeks, accept all the things that I used to hate.”
(MINNEAPOLIS) — Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin pleaded guilty to killing George Floyd in 2020 — when he dug his knee into the back of the Black man’s neck even though he was aware Floyd had lost consciousness and pulse. But in exchange for his plea, Chauvin, 45, made one request: that he be allowed to do his time in federal prison, even if it means he will serve a longer sentence.
Under the agreement Chauvin signed in U.S. District Court in St. Paul, Minnesota, on Wednesday, he must serve a minimum of 20 years in prison, and a maximum of 25.
While he was sentenced by Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill to serve 22-and-a-half years in state prison, Chauvin could have been paroled in less than 15 years, assuming he accumulated all good-time credit, according to the federal agreement.
“The Floyd family understands Derek Chauvin may serve more time in federal prison than he would in state prison because federal guidelines indicate a greater percentage of a sentence is required to be served than at the state level. It is important to the family that he serves as much of his sentence as possible,” the Floyd family’s attorneys, Ben Crump, Antonio Romanucci and Jeff Storms, said in a statement to ABC News.
Chauvin — who a jury convicted in state court of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter — is to be sentenced in the federal case at a later date.
During his state sentencing hearing in June, Chauvin seemed to allude to his decision to plead guilty in the federal case. Turning to members of the Floyd family seated in the courtroom, he said, “There’s going to be some other information in the future that would be of interest and I hope some things will give you some peace of mind.”
Difference between federal and state prison
When asked if there is a big difference between federal and state prisons, experts agreed that federal prisons are better.
“The general reason is federal prison just tends to be safer and nicer than state prison and local jails,” former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani told ABC News. “There are many reasons for that. They’re just managed better by the Bureau of Prisons, where state and local jails just are not.”
Rahmani, president and co-founder of Los Angeles-based West Coast Trial Lawyers, added, “There is overcrowding issues in state prisons and local jails that you just don’t have in federal prison.”
The annual cost of housing an inmate in a Minnesota state prison is about the same as the federal government spends on its prisoners.
According to a 2015 study by the Vera Institute of Justice, a nonprofit research and policy organization, the average annual cost of housing an inmate in Minnesota state prison is roughly $41,000.
The federal Bueau of Prisons estimated that the annual cost of housing an inmate in a federal facility in 2020 was a little over $39,000.
Upon receiving his state sentence, Chauvin was immediately placed in the Minnesota Correctional Facility at Oak Park Heights, a maximum-security prison. A spokesman for the Minnesota Department of Corrections confirmed to ABC News that Chauvin is being held in the administrative segregation wing of the prison, isolated in a cell 23 hours a day.
Inmates housed in administrative segregation are usually there for disciplinary reasons or “when continued presence in general population could pose a particular safety concern,” according to the state corrections’ website.
Safety appears to be Chauvin’s top concern
Rahmani, who was not involved in the Chauvin case, said one likely reason why the former veteran police officer would prefer to serve his sentence in federal prison is for his own safety.
“He’s been a police officer for quite some time and he’s arrested a lot of folks and probably put them in Minnesota state prison,” Rahmani said of Chauvin, who was a member of the Minneapolis Police Department for 19 years. “It’s much less likely that he’s going to run into people that he’s had interactions with federal prison. So, it’s going to be a lot safer for him.”
Justin Paperny is a former stockbroker who served time in federal prison for securities fraud and founded the consulting company White Collar Advice, which counsels white-collar criminals on what to expect in prison.
Paperney told ABC News that while Chauvin will be allowed to make a recommendation on which federal prison he would like to go to, the ultimate decision will be up to the federal Bureau of Prisons.
“There has been criticism that asking for a certain federal prison was a privilege,” said Paperney, who counseled several parents facing federal prison sentences after being convicted in the “Varsity Blues” college-entrance cheating scandal. “In reality, every federal defendant, whether you’re rich or poor, should ask the judge for a recommendation for a prison. It doesn’t mean you’re going to get it.”
‘He’d be wise to lay low’
Paperney and Rahmani said the federal Bureau of Prisons can send Chauvin to any of its 122 federal prisons throughout the United States that house more than 151,000 inmates.
“In federal prison, Chauvin will still likely be isolated,” Rahmani said. “Isolated would probably be the safest for him, or could be housed with folks who are white-collar criminals assignments, who are no risk to violence towards him. Anytime you have a police officer in prison that’s going to be a very risky situation for that individual. They’ve got to basically put him somewhere safe.”
Paperney said anyone headed to federal prison should conduct their own research on what to expect from the various facilities and the different levels of security.
Such prison research was explored in a recent episode of the hit HBO drama series “Succession.” The character Tom Wambsgans, son-in-law to ruthless media tycoon Logan Roy, gets hold of a binder of prison data to thumb through in anticipation of being sent to a federal pen as a sacrificial lamb in an FBI probe of the family business.
While it’s not a binder, per se, Paperney said he actually wrote the book “Lessons From Prison,” which includes strategies and case studies on how people can prepare themselves for life behind bars, learn to make amends and make their prison experience productive.
“Generally speaking, the federal government is going to have a lot more resources than a lot of states who are cash strapped and broke,” Paperney said. “Given the length of his [Chauvin’s] sentence, and no possibility of release any time soon, it makes more sense to be in a federal prison with more security and better access to resources and programming, everything from better food to better housing, to better bunks.”
Paperney said that if he had to chance to consult Chauvin, he’d give him the advice he gives most of his clients.
“Any new prisoner must recognize they’re moving into an environment where people have lived for weeks, months, years. It is a microcosm of society,” Paperney said. “So, he’d be wise to lay low, to listen, to watch, to not assert his authority, not try to impress or influence or offer unsolicited advice. He needs to stay quiet and adjust because the eyes will be on him.”
(NEW YORK) — Ahead of Christmas, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has released an interactive map that shows the average percent chance of seeing snow in towns across the country.
NOAA defines the meaning of a “white Christmas” if there is at least 1 inch of snow on the ground by 7 a.m. Christmas morning.
According to data collected by the NOAA over the course of 30 years, most large U.S. cities, from Boston to Chicago to Seattle, don’t typically have much of a chance of seeing a white Christmas on average.
Minneapolis-Saint Paul is the only large metropolitan area that has a likely chance this year, at 74%.
In the Northeast, Washington, D.C., normally has a 5% chance and New York City typically has a 13% chance of seeing a white Christmas on average.
Those out West have a bit more luck.
Aspen, Colorado, has almost a 100% chance of seeing a white Christmas and Breckenridge, Colorado, is not far behind with a 98% chance on average.
With the mild start to the winter season this year, the national snowfall average is behind across most of the U.S.
As of now, not much snow is expected east of the Rockies, where it is forecast to get warmer for most heading towards Christmas this year.
New York City, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Chicago, Detroit and Denver are not expected to see a white Christmas this year.
However, most of the Rocky Mountains and all of the West Coast at higher elevations will see snow on the ground.
Similarly, in the Northeast, snow will be on the ground at higher elevations, especially from upstate New York to Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine.
The forecast this year calls for a white Christmas in most of North Dakota, the northern half of Minnesota, northern Wisconsin and most northern parts of Michigan, including the Upper Peninsula.
Commander, a purebred German Shepherd, was gifted to Biden by his brother James and his sister-in-law for his birthday, and will also be joined by the long-awaited Biden family cat in January.
Biden later tweeted a 15-second video showing him meeting the new arrival on the White House lawn.
“Hey, pal. How you doing? How are you?” Biden said to his enthusiastic new friend.
The video also features Biden throwing a ball to Commander on the lawn, walking into the White House holding the new puppy on a leash alongside first lady Jill Biden, and the president giving a treat to their new pet in front of a festive fireplace mantel.
As the Bidens welcomed Commander to the White House on Monday, they also announced that their other German Shepherd, Major, the first shelter dog to live in the White House, would be leaving 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue to live with family friends following a handful of biting incidents involving White House staff this year.
“After consulting with dog trainers, animal behaviorists and veterinarians, the First Family has decided to follow the experts’ collective recommendation that it would be safest for Major to live in a quieter environment with family friends,” the first lady’s press secretary Michael LaRosa said in a statement.
“This is not in reaction to any new or specific incident, but rather a decision reached after several months of deliberation as a family and discussions with experts,” he added.
The family’s other longtime German Shepherd, Champ, whom Biden said considered himself a member of the Secret Service, died in June at 13 years old.
The first lady teased in an April interview with NBC’s Today program that a female cat was “waiting in the wings.”
(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden will announce a plan on Tuesday to distribute 500 million free at-home rapid tests to Americans beginning in January as part of an attempt to double down on the spread of a transmissible variant that has hit the U.S. distressingly close to the holidays.
Biden’s new efforts come as the omicron variant became the most dominant COVID strain in the country Monday, accounting for nearly three-quarters of all cases, and just as travel kicks off at nearly pre-pandemic levels for the holiday season.
The free at-home rapid tests will be delivered by mail to Americans who request them, a senior administration official told reporters on Monday night in a preview of the speech, marking a slightly different approach from European countries that chose to send tests to all residents.
Americans will have to request the tests through a website that will launch in January, the official said, and its not yet clear how many tests Americans will be able to request per household.
The move is a significant departure from the White House’s posture just two weeks ago, when White House press secretary Jen Psaki dismissed the idea of mailing tests to every American as costly and wasteful.
“Should we just send one to every American?” Psaki told a reporter on Dec. 6.
“Then what happens if every American has one test? How much does that cost, and then what happens after that?” Psaki said.
But the effort shows the consensus among White House officials on the need to improve the nation’s testing apparatus, which was caught unprepared by the perfect storm of high demand for pre-holiday testing and a surge of omicron cases.
As a result, Americans have faced long lines and empty shelves this week as they attempt to safely gather for the holidays in keeping with CDC guidance, which calls for families to use at-home rapid tests as an extra layer of prevention before gathering.
Dr. Sam Scarpino, managing director of pathogen surveillance at the Rockefeller Foundation and a member of their Pandemic Prevention Institute, said the government could have seen this coming.
“Scientists have been warning about the potential for new variants to come along for a year now or more. And we’ve known about omicron since the day before Thanksgiving. It’s been weeks at this point,” he said.
There will be other actions to get ahead of omicron outlined in Biden’s speech on Tuesday, too, like new federal testing sites around the country — the first several of which will launch in New York City by Christmas — and mobilizing 1,000 military doctors and nurses to overburdened hospitals, the senior administration official said.
The military aid will be five-fold the current deployment and could be a big boost to hospitals that have been running on fumes for two years.
There are currently 175 troops spread over four states, and since August 2021, when a joint military operation across the Army, Navy and Air Force began, about 530 medical military personnel have been deployed to work alongside civilian health care providers.
This will be the second time Biden addresses the nation about the omicron variant in less than a month.
In November, Biden announced a winter COVID plan that included beefing up vaccination and booster clinics to encourage more Americans to get protected and increase testing by getting insurance companies to reimburse the cost of at-home tests.
The 500 million free at-home tests that will be announced on Tuesday will be in addition to getting at-home tests reimbursed, which will go into effect on Jan. 15.
Noticeably missing from the new government efforts will be any attempts to enact further restrictions or lockdowns — which some European countries have opted for as omicron has swept through their populations.
It will not be a speech about “locking the country down,” Psaki said at a press briefing on Monday afternoon.
“This is a speech outlining and being direct and clear with the American people about the benefits of being vaccinated, the steps we’re going to take to increase access and to increase testing and the risks posed to unvaccinated individuals,” Psaki said.
Psaki also said Biden would deliver a “stark warning” for those that choose to remain unvaccinated.
“For those who choose to remain unvaccinated, he’ll issue a stark warning and make clear unvaccinated individuals will continue to drive hospitalizations and deaths,” she said.
