The Biden administration plans to ration shrinking COVID-19 funds, prioritizing the purchasing of treatments and the next generation of vaccines.
The administration will redirect about $5 billion in existing funds to buy new and updated COVID-19 vaccines as they become available and repurpose another $5 billion to purchase treatments such as Pfizer’s Paxlovid, an administration official told the Washington Post.
WHITE HOUSE PRESSURED TO SCRAP COVID-19 TESTING REQUIREMENT FOR TRAVEL TO US
Still, the emergency rationing may not be enough to purchase enough vaccines for everyone in the event that a new one hits the market, another White House aide added. The Novavax vaccine, for instance, is expected to be granted authorization from the Food and Drug Administration this month.
The plan will mean cutting funding sources for producing and distributing diagnostic tests as well as stockpiling personal protective equipment, ventilators, and other medical supplies. It could also imperil planned government research into new vaccines and treatments for COVID-19.
The White House has warned for weeks that coffers would be depleted before the onset of a possible fall surge unless Congress were to act. White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator Ashish Jha said last week that the shortfall in pandemic funding keeps him up at night.
“So if you’re wondering what is it that really worries me, I think we have the tools for the summer. We will not have the tools for the fall and winter, unless Congress steps up and funds us,” Jha said.
The White House has hit consistent roadblocks in its quest for more pandemic funding amid a persistent logjam in Congress. The administration initially requested $22.5 billion in additional funding in March, a request that Republicans balked at. They argued that the administration should instead repurpose some of the vast funding approved under the American Rescue Plan. Any new request for funding, Republicans said, would have to be fully paid for. GOP lawmakers and Democrats reached a compromise in April with a slimmed-down $10 billion bill before it was tabled altogether.
The White House maintains it is still laser-focused on getting another tranche of COVID-19 funding passed, according to White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.
“We will continue doing our part to protect the American people. We’ll use the few funds we have remaining to continue getting testing, treatments, and vaccine out to Americans for as long as we can,” she said. “And at the end of the day, it’s Republicans in Congress — they need to act.”
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COVID-19 cases have ticked up in recent weeks, putting government health officials on alert. The current average is about 109,000 new cases confirmed daily, up from roughly 29,000 on this day two months ago. The true case count is expected to be much higher because many people now rely on home diagnostic tests that do not get reported to local health departments. Hospitalizations are also on the rise nationally, climbing 12% over the past two weeks.
