How To Get Through The Holidays As Omicron Looms

1200w,https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2021/12/21/gettyimages-1359218167_wide-6e0d20c7896aa9cd2cc3fa82c816c425c7b846f3-s1600-c85.jpg 1600w,https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2021/12/21/gettyimages-1359218167_wide-6e0d20c7896aa9cd2cc3fa82c816c425c7b846f3-s1800-c85.jpg 1800w" sizes="(min-width: 1300px) 763px, (min-width: 1025px) calc(100vw - 496px), (min-width: 768px) calc(100vw - 171px), calc(100vw - 30px)" type="image/jpeg"/>

This holiday season we all deserve a little peace and quiet with the people we love, but the rapid spread of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 threatens to complicate things for everyone.

As tests appear to be in short supply in places like New York City, the White House announced plans to send 500 million at-home tests to Americans who want them and new federal testing sites to meet the demand in the coming weeks.

But despite the rising cases and concern, Dr. Ashish Jha, Dean of the Brown University School of Public Health, says this is not March 2020 all over again. And he offers some guidance to help us through the next few weeks.

In participating regions, you'll also hear a local news segment that will help you make sense of what's going on in your community.

Email us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

This episode was produced by Lee Hale. It was edited by Ashley Brown. Our executive producer is Cara Tallo.