Parliamentarians having already paid a lot for the pandemic, it is not certain that Congress will accede to the president’s requests.
Already warning that it was undoubtedly going to be necessary to make “difficult compromises” As a potential new wave of Covid-19 approaches in the fall, the White House has called on Congress to shell out an additional $22.4 billion to maintain its critical testing and vaccination programs. This request comes as health authorities, who on Thursday recommended the new version of the Covid-19 vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna, are preparing a new recall campaign.
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But it is uncertain whether Congress will accede to Joe Biden’s demands, as parliamentarians have already paid out heavily for the pandemic and are increasingly on bipartisan positions as the midterm elections approach in November. With a previous request for additional funds still blocked, the government has already been obliged “to recover funds intended for urgent needs to meet even more urgent needs”notes a memo from the administration.
A possible “new peak this fall»
The free home test delivery program was suspended on Friday for lack of sufficient money. The government “still has tests available in reserve but not enough if there is a new peak this fall”said a government official during a briefing with journalists.
The government should be able to continue funding vaccines until early next year. But without additional funds, he will have to make the transition more quickly than expected to a system where vaccines will be reimbursed by health insurance, which will leave out people without good insurance, he also pointed out. . Beyond Covid-19-related programs, the White House also called on Congress to allocate additional funds to help Ukraine, to fight monkeypox and to manage the natural disasters that have ravaged the country. Kentucky, California and other states.
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