By KRISTA MAHR and DANIEL PAYNE
12/13/2022 10:00 AM EST
Presented by
With Alice Miranda Ollstein
PREPPING FOR THE END — Even as Covid-19 cases are rising across the country, preparations for the end of the public health emergency are in full swing within the administration, Ashish Jha, the White House Covid response coordinator, said during a Health Affairs event Tuesday.
Even as Jha and others talk this week with governors and local health officials about what they need to get through the current rise in cases, “in the background — and not so far in the background — we have a group of people on our team who are thinking about the transition,” he said.
Keeping access open: During the transition, the federal government will cease buying Covid vaccines, treatment and diagnostics as the virus, like influenza, becomes integrated into our health system. When exactly that happens “is driven by a few factors, not the least of which is lack of congressional funding,” he said.
Jha thinks it’s reasonable to “move a lot of this stuff into the normal healthcare market.” But, he said, “We want to make sure that people don’t all of a sudden wake up one morning and say, ‘Oh, I no longer have access to treatment.’”
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