White House seeks $10 billion for COVID20 Nov 2022 15:16
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/white-house-covid-19-ukraine-aid-congress/
Washington — The White House on Tuesday asked Congress to provide another $10 billion to combat COVID-19 and other infectious diseases amid an emergence of new subvariants and expected winter surge in infections, as well as an additional $37.7 billion in support for Ukraine to defend itself from Russia's ongoing aggression.
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"Staying ahead of COVID-19. Supporting Ukraine's fight to defend its sovereignty. Helping Americans who have borne the brunt of natural disasters," she said. "The American people rightly expect their leaders to come together and deliver on these priorities."
According to a breakdown of the request provided by the White House, the $10 billion for funding to fight COVID-19 and other diseases includes $2.5 billion to ensure continued access to vaccines and therapeutics; $5 billion to support the development of next-generation vaccines and therapeutics; and $750 million to support research and treatment for long COVID, the term for cases in which symptoms linger for months or even years. The Biden administration is seeking $750 million of the $10 billion requested to restore smallpox vaccines used for the monkeypox response, and to start procuring and distributing treatment for hepatitis C and pre-exposure prophylaxis to help prevent HIV.
"While COVID-19 is no longer the disruptive force it was when the president took office, we face the emergence of new subvariants in the United States and around the world that have the potential to cause a surge of infections, hospitalizations, and deaths, particularly as we head into the winter months — a time when viruses like COVID-19 spread more quickly," Young wrote.
The White House has attempted on multiple occasions to get more money from Congress to bolster the resources it says are needed to address the pandemic, and is renewing its efforts during the lame-duck session between the midterm elections and the seating of a new Congress.
"Failure to provide more funding would lead to needless infections and deaths across the nation and around the world," Young told Pelosi.