Stress –
The Joe Biden administration announced Thursday that the COVID-19 public health emergency will remain in place until January 11, 2023, when cases are expected to peak in the winter.
The decision comes in a month when the pandemic has already faded from many minds. Daily deaths and infections are falling and people – many without masks – are returning to schools, work and shops as usual.
The public health utility, initially declared in January 2020 and updated every 90 days, has changed health services in a very drastic way.
The declaration of emergency authority allowed for free vaccines, diagnostic tests and treatments against COVID-19. Expanded Medicaid coverage to millions of people, many of whom could once have lost coverage requirements. It would open up temporary access to telemedicine for Medicare beneficiaries, allowing doctors to bill the same fees for visits, and encouraging health networks to embrace remote medicine technology.
Since the beginning of this year, Republicans have been pressing the government to end the public health emergency. Biden, for his part, urged Congress to provide billions of additional dollars to help pay for vaccines and diagnostic tests for the coronavirus. The federal government stopped sending out free electronic tests last month, saying they ran out of money for it.
Public health authorities are recommending that people 5 years and older receive their current dose of the vaccine, including the flu vaccine, this fall, before cases of covid-19 are projected to rise, and we are facing a critical time. As of last weekend, some 13 million people would have received an updated course that fights in the omicron variant, according to the coordinator of the coronavirus Dr. Ashish Jha said the White House.
The federal government says it will issue a public health emergency declaration 60 days in advance.
