By Mary O’KEEFE

“We should all be concerned about omicron but not panic,” said President Joe Biden in a Tuesday press conference concerning COVID-19 and the increasing spread of the omicron variant.

Omicron has quickly become the dominant variant of COVID-19 in the U.S. As of Dec. 17, more than 73% of new cases in the nation were caused by omicron, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

President Biden stressed that the best way for Americans to protect themselves from serious illness and hospitalization from COVID-19 and specifically from the delta and omicron variants is by getting vaccinated and those who are vaccinated need to get their booster shots.

The President said that both he and former President Donald Trump are vaccinated and have received their boosters.

Although COVID numbers are on the rise, due in part to omicron and in part to the unvaccinated population, the country is not reverting to as it was at the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020. President Biden pointed out the three biggest differences between then and now are that more than 200 million Americans have been fully vaccinated, medical personnel and the government are better prepared and have ample personal protective equipment and scientists know how the virus spreads.

“Let me be clear: Thanks to the prior administration and our scientific community, America is one of the first countries to get the vaccine. And thanks to my administration and the hard work of Americans, we led a rollout that made America among the world leaders in getting shots in arms,” President Biden stated.

Due to the spread, Los Angeles County last week required face coverings to be worn in all indoor public settings regardless of a person’s vaccine status.

As the holidays grow near, more people are lining up to get tested and to get their vaccine or boosters; however, finding a place to get a free test for COVID-19 can be difficult.

“Currently there is plenty of capacity at our DHS run sites. However, most of our sites are in geographic locations that have been identified as high COVID-19 positivity areas within LA County. Proximity of available testing sites will depend on the geographic LA County location being searched,” stated the Dept. of Health Services, LA County in response to an email request from CVW.

CVW had researched covid19.lacounty.gov/testing, the online testing appointment website, for over a week and was unable to find any appointments available within 25 miles. Some locations listed appeared to have appointments available but were found to no longer administer tests, and some of those locations referred to the Adventist Urgent Care in La Cañada on Verdugo Boulevard. That urgent care location was found to be closed until the first week of January 2022.

The best way to find a COVID-19 testing location appears to be by driving around the local area to find signs that state “free COVID testing.”

CVW found one of the easiest and fastest sites at the west side of the 76 Service Station at 2384 Foothill Blvd. The tests are free and the results are given in 24 to 48 hours. Test takers will need a QR code reader on their phone. They click on the QR code, fill out the form and wait in their vehicles until a technician comes to the vehicle with the test. The test is administered while remaining in the vehicle and that’s that.

The location is open Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. For more information call (888) 498-2668 or visit labananda.com.

It is expected that the rush to test may slow after the holidays.

To find more LA County locations for testing and vaccinations/boosters visit https://covid19.lacounty.gov.

Pharmacies like those at CVS, Walgreens and Vons also administer the vaccine and boosters. Not all locations have the vaccines, so it is advised to first visit their individual websites to find the active locations.

In LA County as of Wednesday, new cases of COVID-19 cases doubled from Tuesday to 6,509 new cases.

“This steep increase, one of the steepest rises we have ever seen over the course of the pandemic, reflects the circulation of omicron and the associated rapid acceleration of transmission associated with this variant,” according to DHS.