On March 11, it will have been two years since the World Health Organization (WHO) classified the COVID-19 outbreak as a pandemic. For most students it will be the spring break they never came back from. Since then, the world has been having to adapt to a new way of living by going out less frequently and cutting off all physical contact with anyone who was not in your household. 

 Many people were locked in their homes. There were also many people who were confined to a hospital bed because of COVID-19. Ever since this has all started, everyone wanted to go back to the way things used to be. We wanted to return to a sense of normalcy. 

 President Joe Biden has now announced a new initiative that will start the return to normalcy everyone so desperately wants. At his State of the Union address on March 1, Biden told the world about his plan to return the United States to it’s in pre-pandemic state. Allowing us to see our families and friends and enjoy every day life like we used. This plan is called the “Test to Treat” initiative. 

 At this conference, he tells us that the with the decrease in cases we have a new mask guideline given to us by the Center of Disease Control and Prevention allows most Americans to go about their lives mask free.  

 The Test of Treat initiative includes a new pill developed by Pfizer that will be deployed at pharmacies, he claims “if you get COVID-19, the Pfizer pill reduces your chances of ending up in the hospital by 90 percent.” 

 Biden has secured one million pills for the month of March, and says he will be sent double the next month. 

 Clarifying the plan by saying, “And now we are launching the Test of Treat initiative, so people can get tested at a pharmacy, and if they prove positive, receive the antiviral pills on the spot, at no cost.” 

 With this plan, he hopes that we will start the transition back to how to world was functioning pre-pandemic. Biden shows great interest in going back into the world. “We can end the shut down of schools and businesses,” Biden states, “we have the tools we need. It’s time for America to get back to work and fill our downtowns again with people.” 

 He concludes with his hope to see people able to go back to work and in classrooms without masks or worrying of COVID-19. Biden assures that we have the tools necessary to help people get back into normalcy. He wants America to be able to move forward and not let COVID-19 live with us any longer.  

 Biden no longer wants us to be against one another, as hate has been demonstrated on both sides of the pandemic. He wants us to see each other as Americans and come together for our return to normalcy.