EARTH FUTURE ACTION

SUPPORT COVID FUNDING IN 2023

IT IS A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH

At the end of 2022, Biden and Congress failed to include Covid funding in the 2023 Budget. Also, Biden asked for zero Covid dollars in the fiscal year 2024 budget, which was released March 9th. We believe this is a mistake that MUST be corrected as soon as possible.

Despite claiming that the Covid emergency was "over" in a Sixty Minutes interview, and ending the state of Public Health Emergency, the White House is now going to launch a $5 billion dollar program to partner with private sector companies to speed the development of new coronavirus vaccines and treatments. So clearly the emergency is not "over."

What's worse is that funding for Covid has not been approved in two years. Over one million Americans have been killed by Covid. In spite of spending more on health "care" than anybody else in the world, America has had one of the highest Covid death rates per capita. In other words, the system failed, and many are dead as a result.

And now that President Biden has ended the state of Public Health Emergency, this ends the Covid-related public health emergency declarations. This will result in millions losing Medicaid.

What is particularly inexcusable is that the White House will disband their Covid-19 team in May. Deborah Birx, who served as the nation’s first coronavirus coordinator, suggested that too few anti-pandemic mechanisms have been put in place to justify winding down the team. She said the administration has missed opportunities to improve the monitoring of virus data, invest in the development of more durable vaccines and take other steps that Biden vowed to accomplish in his sweeping covid plan. She lamented the fact that new versions of the virus are allowing it to evade some treatments. And because of that, she states that America's are actually more vulnerable now than they were a year ago. (Washington Post, 3-22-23)

Yes, it is true that Biden asked for Congress to approve international and domestic Covid funding last year. $9 Billion was requested for domestic funding for Covid along with other diseases. $1 Billion was requested for global Covid funding. (Click here for the official request letter sent to Congress.) Unfortunately, Biden has made little effort to fight for this. He actually undermined the whole project by making the totally false statement that the pandemic was "over" in an interview with 60 Minutes. The nightmare is far from over.

Back in September 2021, the Secretary-General of the UN and several global health experts called on America to make a major commitment to assisting the world's poor in fighting Covid. In 2021 and 2022, this call went ignored. Zero dollars were appropriated. Instead, we're going in the opposite direction and becoming more complacent about the growing threat of Covid. Genomic surveillance around the world has dropped 90 percent since early 2022.

And new variants, such as XBB, are spreading fast.

The financial costs of Covid will also add up, whether the government wants to pay for it or not. For instance, Long Covid may cause a $3.7 trillion economic impact rivaling the Great Recession.

There is currently a total breakdown in the national response to Covid. There is a lack of testing, masks and medicine. Hospitals have become overwhelmed.

There are also very serious problems with Monkeypox and RSV. Monkeypox has overwhelmed a broken system. Sexual health clinics are dangerously underfunded and at risk of closing. Venereal disease is also rising.

People should call their members of Congress and their Senators.

Those who have contact with the White House, the House Leadership and the Senate Leadership should call and make sure that Covid funding gets approved as soon as possible. This is not open to compromise.

Call 202-224-3121 and ask for the right legislator.

WHITE HOUSE PROGRAM TO SPEED NEW VACCINE DEVELOPMENT

White House launches $5 billion program to speed covid vaccine development (Washington Post, 4-10-23)

DEMOCRATS WILL END THE COVID PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCY

10 Things to Know About the Unwinding of the Medicaid Continuous Enrollment Provision (KFF, 4-5-23)

Fact Sheet: COVID-19 Public Health Emergency Transition Roadmap (HHS.gov, 2-9-23)

Biden’s Ending of the Covid Emergency Is a Public Health Disaster (The Nation, 2-2-23)

White House disbanding its covid-19 team in May (The Washington Post, 3-22-23)

DEADLY NEW VARIANTS

Opinion | The XBB.1.5 variant shows the coronavirus is not done with us (The Washington Post, 1-8-23)

Omicron BQ, XBB subvariants are a serious threat to boosters and knock out antibody treatments, study finds (CNBC, 12-14-22)

Next COVID-19 strain may be more dangerous, lab study shows (Japan Times, 11-27-22)