Backround on why  rapid tests for COVID-19 are in such short supply

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At-home rapid antigen tests are reselling for triple the retail price on some digital marketplaces. Testing locations in L.A. County have been overwhelmed by mile-long lines, with some events canceled due to traffic. Some would-be self-testers have resigned themselves to driving between CVS and Walgreens locations, hoping to snag a kit at a reasonable price.

Companies are racing to fulfill the excess demand.

Abbott Laboratories, which makes the BinaxNOW rapid antigen test, expects to produce 70 million tests this month and is working to raise that to 100 million, said CEO Robert Ford.

U.S. breaks COVID-19 hospitalization record at over 132,000 as Omicron surges COVID-19 hospitalizations in the United States reached a record high on Monday, according to a Reuters tally, as a surge in infections caused by the highly contagious Omicron variant strains health systems in several states. Maria Caspani,Lisa Shumaker Reuters

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There were 132,646 people hospitalized with COVID, surpassing the record of 132,051 set in January last year.

US hospitals letting infected staff members stay on the job | AP News Hospitals around the U.S. are increasingly taking the extraordinary step of allowing nurses and other workers infected with the coronavirus to stay on the job if they have mild symptoms or none at all. AP NEWS

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The move is a reaction to the severe hospital staffing shortages and crushing caseloads that the omicron variant is causing.

Canada resists pressure to drop vaccine mandate for cross-border truckers Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is pushing ahead with a vaccine mandate for international truckers despite increasing pressure from critics who say it will exacerbate driver shortages and drive up the price of goods imported from the United States. Steve Scherer Reuters

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Pop-up testing sites have cropped up on street corners, in parking lots and on shopping properties across the country, but health and legal experts say many of these are unregulated and could be rife for nefarious activities like identity theft.

In the last few weeks, legislators and attorneys general in several states including Illinois, Maryland, California, Texas and Pennsylvania have said they will be investigating and introducing regulatory legislation overseeing these operations.

Numerous illegal, unapproved and unsanitary sites have been cautioned by state officials nationwide.

Pfizer CEO says omicron vaccine will be ready in March Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said the goal is to product a vaccine that is much better at preventing infection from omicron. Spencer Kimball CNBC

fizer CEO Albert Bourla said a vaccine that targets the omicron variant of Covid will be ready in March, and the company’s already begun manufacturing the doses.

“This vaccine will be ready in March,” Bourla told CNBC’s Squawk Box. “We (are) already starting manufacturing some of these quantities at risk.”