President Joe Biden will give an address to the nation Tuesday afternoon about his administration's plans to combat the latest variant of Wuhan coronavirus.
For months Biden has called for Americans who do not want to take the vaccine, including doctors and nurses in medical facilities across the country, to be fired. Many of them have been, causing shortages and a lack of proper care. Here is one example from New York:
The emergency department at a Nassau County hospital has temporarily closed due to nursing staff shortages as a result of New York's vaccine mandate.
Officials at Mount Sinai South Nassau said Monday that all other options were exhausted before the decision was made to close the ER, starting at 3 p.m.
Instead, patients in need of emergency care will be directed to the hospital's main campus in Oceanside. It's roughly five miles away and could take 25 minutes to get to in traffic.
An ambulance will be stationed at the ER at all times for the duration of the closure.
The closure will last for up to four weeks and could be expanded, depending on staff availability.
Hospital officials say it's a result of compliance with state mandate that requires the suspension of all staff working under temporary religious exemptions who have not shown proof of at least the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine or a valid medical exemption.
But now, Biden is grasping at ways to get ahead if hospitals see an increase in patients by sending military doctors and nurses to fill the gap. The White House sent out a preview of the move Tuesday morning.
Deploying Additional Medical Personnel
Mobilizing an Additional 1,000 Troops to Deploy to COVID-Burdened Hospitals: The President is directing Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to ready an additional 1,000 service members—military doctors, nurses, paramedics, and other medical personnel—to deploy to hospitals during January and February, as needed.
Deploying Federal Medical Personnel Available to States Immediately: The President is announcing that six emergency response teams—with more than 100 clinical personnel and paramedics—are deploying to six states now: Michigan, Indiana, Wisconsin, Arizona, New Hampshire and Vermont. This is on top of the 300 federal medical personnel that we have deployed since we learned about Omicron.
Biden is expected to detail other measures at 2:30 et.