WASHINGTON – The Biden administration said on Thursday that the COVID-19 public health emergency will continue through January 11 as officials prepare for a spike in spikes this winter.
The decision comes amid a pandemic that has faded from the minds of many. Daily deaths and infections are dropping and people – many of them not wearing masks – are returning to school, work and the grocery store as usual.
The public health emergency, first declared in January 2020 and renewed every 90 days since, has dramatically changed the way health services are delivered.
Declaration authorizing emergency authorization of COVID vaccines, free testing and treatment. It has extended Medicaid coverage to millions of people, many of whom will be at risk of losing that coverage when the emergency ends. It temporarily opens telehealth access to Medicare recipients, allows doctors to charge the same fees for those visits, and encourages health networks to adopt telehealth technology.
Since the beginning of this year, Republicans have been pressing the administration to end the public health emergency. Meanwhile, President Joe Biden has urged Congress for billions of dollars in additional aid to pay for COVID-19 testing and vaccines. The federal government stopped sending free COVID-19 tests by mail last month, saying it had run out of money.
Public health officials are urging everyone age 5 and older to get an up-to-date COVID-19 booster along with a flu vaccine this fall ahead of a predicted winter and one-season coronavirus surge. nasty flu. According to the White House COVID-19 coordinator, Dr Ashish Jha, as of last weekend, about 13 million people had received the updated booster, which targets the omicron variant.
The administration said it would give 60 days’ notice before the end of the public health emergency.
