Richard H. Hughes, IV, Member of the Firm in the Health Care & Life Sciences practice, in the firm’s Washington, DC, office, authored an article in Healthcare Dive, titled “As Congress, Biden Administration Squabble Over COVID-19 Funds, an Ongoing Pandemic Response Posture Strains Public Health.”
Following is an excerpt:
Just over two years since the coronavirus pandemic began, society presses forward, seeking normalcy. Restrictions have lifted, severe cases and deaths from COVID-19 have plummeted thanks to rapidly developed vaccines and therapeutics.
The United States government has played an important role in assuring supply of these life-saving interventions, while state and local public health has muscled the logistics of allocating and distributing vaccines, getting them the last mile to the front lines.
Today, Congress and the Biden administration are at odds on the need to purchase additional vaccines and therapeutics while the public health workforce is beleaguered as it faces the newly added battle against a monkeypox outbreak. The administration just procured antibody treatments for an additional $275 million while members of Congress are calling for the federal role to wind down.
The Biden administration has announced efforts to address the burnouts, but there is no transition plan to relieve the public health workforce while sustaining longer-term access to vaccines and therapeutics.
