White House to seek more covid and other healthfunding in lame-duck session--sources

Mon, 2022-11-14 17:40 — mike kraft

White House to seek more covid funding in lame-duck session Officials say the need for next-generation treatments and vaccines is urgent as the virus continues mutating. Dan Diamond Washington Post

The White House is mounting another effort to secure billions of dollars from Congress for a new generation of coronavirus vaccines and treatments, even as Republicans remain skeptical about how past allocations were spent.

Biden officials are finalizing a request this week for about $10 billion in public health funds by year’s end, part of a larger request in the lame-duck session of Congress that would also include funding for Ukraine and disaster relief for hurricane damage in Florida, according to six people who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe confidential budget discussions.

That request includes $8.25 billion for covid-response efforts, including a successor to Operation Warp Speed that some call “Project Covid Shield,” intended to jump-start development of coronavirus vaccines and treatments that would be effective against an evolving virus. Officials also are debating about $2 billion for other health efforts, including about $1 billion for the global covid response, as well as about $750,000 to combat diseases such as hepatitis C and monkeypox.

Senior health officials and outside experts say that more funding for the covid response is desperately needed, pointing to lagging uptake of new coronavirus booster shots that could benefit from public education campaigns, the fading efficacy of existing antivirals and the demand for new vaccines and treatments that will work against future virus variants.

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